New Perspectives
by novice242
Summary: Puck & Rachel's relationship from multiple perspectives as told through new flashbacks from the completed story Junior Year to keep the story in mind while I prepare a sequel. Some humor, romance, angst. Ch. 12. Rachel & Puck say goodbye for the summer.
1. What Artie Sees

**A.N.** I'm going to do a short series of semi-chronological flashbacks from multiple perspectives on the completed story, _Junior Year_. Flashbacks will range in genre from romance to humor to angst. Sometimes from Rachel and Puck's perspective, but things that you didn't see. Often from other character's perspectives, such as this one from Artie which refers back to the beginning of the story in Chapter 4.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

Arthur Abrams was a keen observer of the human condition. Well, at least within McKinley High. This mostly came from years of being ignored by his peers after the accident which left him confined to a wheelchair. Since no one interacted with him, he got used to observing from the sidelines. That changed somewhat in high school when he joined the glee club, but it was a slow road toward change. It seemed that "normal kids" were uncomfortable around him and some thought that because he was physically disabled, he was also mentally disabled. Hey, just because he decided to be the sole reason Uncle Ralph's belt and suspender store stayed in business did not mean he was mentally deficient. He just had a different sense of style and sense of loyalty than others his own age. But years of being an outcast meant he didn't give away this loyalty easily.

Artie found it very telling that the jocks who joined glee did a good job of ignoring him most of the time. Sure, they'd laugh if he made a wise remark about Rachel being a diva; but if Artie raised his hand to give a high-five, he was left hanging. Every time. So Artie continued to do what he did best. He observed.

He watched as New Directions came together and fell apart during sophomore year over the baby-gate drama—thank you Kurt and Mercedes for that little moniker. He watched as Rachel Berry revealed the truth, and as the golden boy Finn Hudson crumbled. He watched as Noah Puckerman and Quinn Fabray grew closer, and then how they fell apart when junior year started and everyone learned that they had given away their daughter for adoption. He watched as Puck became silent and sullen—more so than before. And he had to admit, if only to himself, that a part of him felt a spiteful sense of glee that this bully was actually suffering—that he was experiencing some consequences to his actions for once. C'mon, the guy did lock him in a port-o-potty and threaten to tip it over. Dude wasn't a nice guy.

Today Artie spared Puck a glance as he plopped into the seat next to where Artie had parked his wheelchair. Lately, Puck had been sitting in the back of the room, or if Quinn was there, he sat in the near the front corner. Artie had been hoping that Tina would sit next to him, but he didn't bother asking Puck to move. He didn't want to be rude to the sad hulk of a boy—even if it wouldn't even come close to the payback he deserved. And he didn't want to seem desperate in front of Tina either. So he stayed chill while Mr. Schue starting going on about the Winter Concert and the new song he wanted to do, "Times Like These". The class listened as Mr. Schue played the cd to introduce the tune. Artie already knew the song, and found it surprisingly fitting for the holiday show. _Surprisingly_ because it wasn't a holiday song, and also because Mr. Schue was not always known for making the best decisions.

At the end of the song, Rachel's hand shot up. Of course. "Mr. Schuester! I for one think that this song is an excellent choice!"

"Agreed." said Artie and Puck simultaneously.

Puck raised his hand to offer him a high-five, which Artie returned in a daze due to the shock-and-awe impact of the event unfolding before him. Artie knew he had to be giving Puck a look that rhymed with his nickname. Because seriously, WTF? This gesture came from a guy who had been sitting morosely in the corner for every glee rehearsal up to this point. Suddenly, he and Artie agreed on something (with _Rachel_, no less), and Puck's offering a high-five? And don't think that Artie didn't notice how Rachel's jaw dropped when the two agreed with her in unison, followed by the small smile after the high-five was completed. He did.

At first, he just thought Rachel was pleased with people agreeing with her for once and probably pleased that things were coming together for the team—because Rachel Berry cared more about winning choir competitions than any athlete at McKinley cared about winning games.

But then he noticed Rachel's looks toward the back of the room throughout the rest of rehearsal. Although he was sitting next to Puck, he could tell that it was the jock who was the object of her attention. Artie noticed Puck steal glances Rachel's way as well.

Something was definitely going on.

But Artie didn't make it his business to find out what. He had more important things to worry about than the romance of the week in glee. Seriously. He had to think about how to either get over Tina, or get back together with her. So Artie turned his attention from the weird couple of Jews making eyes at each other from across the room to the even weirder couple that he was hoping to make with Tina.

"Hey, girl, hold up!" he called after her at the end of rehearsal. Artie felt a surge of happiness when Tina smiled beautifully back at him. He raised his eyebrows and tried out his playful sexy voice. (Yes, he had one.) He gestured to his lap. "Wanna lift?"

Tina giggled and shrugged, "Sure, thanks."

It was like heaven.

…

**A.N.** This story idea is inspired by **kaelaelameee**'s suggestion, which was probably inspired by **alien09**'s _North: The Outakes_. The reason I'm doing these is because they are quick and easy to write compared to some of the other stories I'm working to complete, so this will help keep the _Junior Year_ universe alive while I come up with a continuation _Summer in the City_.

Feel free to make requests. I have a few suggestions from reviews for _Junior Year_ too, but I started with my own idea to begin near the start of the original story. Finally, thanks to **Karma22** who helped me work through some title ideas!


	2. What Matt Knew

**Chapter 2. What Matt knew.**

**A.N.** This chapter from Matt's perspective refers back to Chapters 5-8 from my completed story _Junior Year_. Thanks to **Karma22** who suggested I write for one of the gleeks we rarely heard from in the original story (like Brittany, Mike, or Matt)!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

Matt Rutherford was a pretty quiet guy. People seemed to appreciate that about him. He listened, he paid attention. He was athletic, so he was popular, but he didn't say and do really rude things like Puckerman. He didn't stand out as a leader like Hudson either. To be honest, he didn't really mind. He liked being under the radar while still enjoying the benefits of being near the top of the social hierarchy at McKinley. In elementary school, he'd been best friends with Puck and Finn as sorta the 'middle one.' They all three had single moms and lived in the same neighborhood. Matt was in between Puck and Finn in a lot of ways, like height, skill at xbox, and how bad he was willing to act.

Now that he'd matured a little, Matt usually tried to be good—even though being popular sometimes made that hard. He aimed for good-ish. But back then it was a little different. Usually Puck would come up with some brilliant (idiotic) plan and Finn would be dead-set against it. Puck would convince Matt that it would be fun, so by then, Finn was practically forced to join in. Most of the time, Puck was right: it was fun and they didn't get caught. A few times Finn was right, but usually that was because Finn was too uncoordinated and would wind up in the hospital.

Matt chuckled to himself as he remembered the time Finn busted his face when they were jumping from Finn's trampoline into Puck's above-ground pool. Good times.

Gradually, Puck and Finn became closer friends than Matt was with either of them. He wasn't really sure how it happened. He met Mike in junior high, as girls and school dances were coming into their awareness in a bigger way than ever before. While Matt and Mike watched MTV and practiced dancing (to impress the ladies, of course), Puck and Finn would play xbox or basketball. That probably had something to do with the shift in the friend dynamics. Now his best friend was Mike Chang, who was also sort of his rival since they were both into dancing and on the quiet side. But Chang was more of a comedian than Matt and he was rich, so he actually had a lot more friends than Matt did. If he was jealous of anyone, it was probably Mike Chang. Oh, and sometimes he was a little jealous of Brittany because he knew that she had Santana's heart. Even though Matt had dated Santana Lopez last year, it was obvious even then that she had actual feeling for Brittany. Which was weird because it's Santana. And Brittany. From an outsider's perspective they would be Heartless and Brainless. But Matt wasn't exactly an outsider. He sort of was, but he was an outsider who was pretty perceptive. Santana did have a heart, she just hid it. Brittany didn't have a lot of brains, but she had an emotional IQ that she could use for bad or good—she could be really hurtful or really helpful. Matt was never sure what triggered the choice to be one or the other at any given moment.

But during the fall semester of junior year, Matt received an epiphany from Brittany demonstrating her unique combination of hurtful and helpful. Matt had been eyeing Santana again. She wasn't dating any other guys, but Brittany was dating Mike again. And while some people hated Santana for her outright bitchiness, Matt kinda admired her for it. She was confident in who she was, and if people didn't like it, screw 'em. It was the kind of attitude Matt himself could never manage. He was too worried about making a good impression, getting good grades, having a good transcript. He did it all so that one day he could get into college, then med school, then he could be a really good person by doing something helpful for society or whatever and be rich too. Besides, Santana was hot and popular, he saw her every day, and he remembered when she had been a sweet little kid in elementary school who shared her fruit snacks with him; he knew that sweetness was in there somewhere too.

So Matt tried to think of how to get Santana to notice him again so he could ask her to the Winter Dance and she'd actually say yes. That was still a month away, but he knew that some things take time. He let his mind wander while Rachel Berry moved to the front of the room to make an announcement after glee. He needed to come up with a plan, but he started listening to what Rachel was saying—Lord help him.

"You're all invited to my house the day after Thanksgiving. I will send you all e-vites, and I ask that you please RSVP. It will be a great bonding experience for all of the members. We'll have leftovers and hang out and watch movies and things. It will be very casual. If you plan to go shopping for the early morning holiday sales, feel free to stop by my house later. I hope you all will at least stop by at some point."

At first Matt scoffed as she left the room, but then he noticed that Puck seemed into it (his eyes were smiling, Matt could tell). And he overheard him asking Quinn if she wanted to go with him. Interesting. Free food, he could get behind that. Another chance to see Santana? He could definitely get behind that. Matt decided he should talk to Brittany a little to figure out what was her deal with Santana. So he ran after her as she was leaving the music room and walked with her on the way to practice. Football for him, Cheerios for her.

"I was thinking about how to ask Santana to the Winter Dance. I thought maybe you could help me come up with something romantic to do to win her over. If it's cool with you that I ask her, of course."

Brittany looked at him earnestly, "You're too nice."

"Uh, thanks. Does that mean you'll help?"

"It's not a compliment," she said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"You're nice and a good listener, Matt. But she has me for that girly stuff."

"Ok?" Matt furrowed his brow.

Brittany gave him a sympathetic look, "You need to do something to make you seem exciting. You blend in. You're easy to miss."

The girl had a point, Matt thought, even though the bluntness of her words stung. "You're pretty smart at this, Brit. Any ideas?"

Brittany must have been thinking because her face looked blanker than usual. Then her whole face brightened as she looked him in the eyes and clasped her hands together. "Flirt with someone else. It'll get her interested."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Won't that just make her mad?"

"No, she'll eat it up." Brittany shrugged. "I love her; I don't pretend to understand her." Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. "I don't _love_ her love her. San says…"

"It's ok, I get it," Matt assured her. He didn't really get it. But he sorta did.

Brittany looked relieved. "Ok."

Matt gave her a one-armed hug as they made it to the locker rooms. "I think you understand Santana better than anyone."

Brittany smiled a small smile but didn't say anything.

"Thanks for your help, Brit," Matt grinned. He was already forming his plan. He found it unnerving when he thought, Thank God for Rachel Berry, but he couldn't suppress his grin at his ingenious plan.

…

Well, the plan wasn't fully developed, but he had confidence that he could wing it pretty well. Matt had already called Brittany to ask her to make sure that Santana went to Rachel's After-Thanksgiving party. So he'd have her in a party atmosphere—even if it was a lame middle-of-the-afternoon party atmosphere. They were still unsupervised and outside of school. Good things. He just had to pick one of the single ladies of glee to flirt with in front of Santana. Brittany was out. She'd go along with it, he figured, but Mike was his boy. Tina was out because he couldn't get up on Artie's girl—even if they weren't official or anything. He wasn't gonna go there with Mercedes and spark a cat fight—as awesome as that would be to watch. But last year's little whatever that was over Puck made Matt steer clear of Mercedes. The obvious choice was Rachel. Santana hated Rachel. And the girl was lookin' fine lately, so it might even be believable. He decided as he got to the door. Yep, Matt was going to flirt with Rachel to make San jealous. It seemed like a simple, fool-proof plan.

Too bad there was fool in the mix to test that theory. Namely, Finn.

Matt was too busy thinking of how he was going to subtly flirt with Rachel and have her react favorably to notice most of the weirdness going on around him. But soon enough he noticed a flaw in his plan.

It was pretty obvious. Finn was into Rachel again. (Or still.)

Finn was sucking up to Rachel like he was failing class and she was the teacher. It was painful to watch, really. He asked to talk to her in private, they came back with their arms linked, beaming like idiots. Completely ridiculous. Matt wasn't about to jump into that drama. No way. Finn had gone through too much for Matt to start flirting with Rachel just to make Santana jealous. So Matt decided to move in on an easier target.

Let's see, which one of the hot sophomores would get Santana going more? Jules, the leggy brunette with bright blue eyes? Or Sunny, the black-haired Indian goddess? Even though Puck had already left the party with Quinn, he could hear his voice telling him 'why choose, dude?'.

Why, indeed. Matt slipped in between the two girls and let his smoothness do the rest. Sure, he didn't talk much, but he knew how to charm the ladies.

He noticed Santana noticing him. It was awesome. He caught Brittany's eye and winked. She clapped. Not very subtle. But Santana didn't spare a glance her way. She was eyeing the two sophs. Matt kinda felt bad for them if they had to endure the wrath of Santana. So he decided he better take some action. He politely excused himself so he could get some more food (just a ploy). Then with his refilled plate, he returned to sit next to Santana.

"What's up, girl? I haven't had a chance to talk to you yet today."

She smiled sweetly at him, then smugly at Jules and Sunny.

Matt's heart jumped. The plan worked. It was a good day.

…

Matt ended up giving Santana a ride home since she had conveniently gotten a ride to Rachel's with Brittany. Say what you will, sometimes Britt was a genius. He hadn't even asked her to do that, just to make sure she came to the party. He made a mental note to thank Brittany later. He was preoccupied with making-out with Santana in his car. Score!

…

After the make-out session, Matt realized his phone was missing. Not that he was gonna text Santana right away or anything like that. (He totally was.) So he headed back to Rachel's to look for it. It was almost 11:30 by now, but he hoped she wouldn't mind that it was so late. As he pulled up to her street, he could see he was in luck because the living room lights were still on. Sweet!

He parked on the street because he could see two cars in the driveway. No, one was a truck. It was Puck's truck. Puck came back to the party? And he was still here this late? WTF?

Matt's eyes grew wide as he saw two figures at the door. The little girly figure (had to be Rachel) opened the door, and the man figure (definitely Puck) stepped onto the porch. She leaned into him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and they were kissing. Not like a polite goodbye kiss on the cheek. More like what he'd just been doing with Santana. Matt panicked and ducked down in his car. He realized he was being paranoid because it was totally dark and there's no way they could see him. Not that they were looking at anything but each other. But WTF?

As he crouched in his seat, Matt had time to do two things: first, he noticed his phone was shoved under the passenger seat, so he retrieved that (thank god—must have fallen during his session with San); and second, he thought about the latest series of events. Rachel had a party. Puck and Quinn left early. Finn was hanging all over Rachel. She was friendly but he didn't recall anything really going on from her side. Puck came back to the party and is currently kissing Rachel. Shit.

Matt sat up in time to see the two of them on the phone, with each other, as Puck walked backwards toward his truck. No seriously, WTF? Puck does not do that kinda shit with girls. No freakin' way. Matt rubbed his eyes to be sure he wasn't hallucinating. Rachel closed the door. Puck started his truck. Matt waited so he didn't peal out and alert Puck to his presence. He was still a bit in shock because he felt like he'd entered the Twilight Zone. For one thing, he was cursing to himself, which he hardly ever did because his mom hated it and would be so mad if a swear word slipped out of his mouth. Secondly, he couldn't even enjoy basking in the afterglow of landing Santana because he was all stressed about what he'd just witnessed. Why was he stressed? Because he knew Puck and he knew Finn. And Finn definitely liked Rachel again (still, whatever). And Puck was secretly getting with another girl Finn liked again. The déjà vu of the situation was like a cold stone sitting in his guts. After Puck was out of sight, Matt started his car and headed home. He was glad it was Thanksgiving Break, but he knew that'd be over soon. Great.

…

As Matt feared, he got to learn firsthand that Finn was into Rachel. Finn came up to Matt before glee started, "You goin' to the Winter Dance?" he asked.

"Why, you askin' me out?" Matt joked warily. He was afraid of what was coming next.

Finn looked confused by the joke. "No, of course not. I'm not gay. No matter what Kurt thinks or says about me."

"Relax, man, I was kidding."

"Oh," Finn continued. "I was wondering, 'cause I'm thinking of asking Rachel to go to the dance with me."

There it was. Matt had to think about what to say. If Finn asked her to the dance, she could always just say no herself. And if she said yes, then maybe he was wrong. Maybe he didn't see what he thought he saw.

No, it was unmistakable. He had to say something.

"Dude, I think Rachel likes someone else."

Finn's face fell. "You do? Who is it this time?" he asked flatly.

Crap. He couldn't do this. Matt took a deep breath. "You know, I don't know. I don't know where I came up with that. Go ahead and ask her and see what she says. The worst she can say is 'no', and you'll still have time to ask someone else."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, ok." He trudged to a seat on the other side of the room from Matt.

Crap.

…

Matt was kinda surprised when he found out that Rachel was going to the dance with Finn and Puck was going with Quinn. But whatever. Their drama wasn't his drama. He was going with Santana and that's all he really cared about. Still, he had a feeling that things wouldn't go well at the Winter Dance for certain members of New Directions.

…

Yeah, when things went down at the dance, Matt wasn't surprised at all. Everything the gleeks learned then, he already knew.

…


	3. What He Witnessed

**A.N.** Thanks so much to **Karma22** who read this before anyone else when I was having second thoughts (even though I'm _her_ beta)! Ch 9 and 10 of the completed story _Junior Year_ give all the juicy details of what happened at the dance (which was mentioned in the conclusion of Ch. 2 of this rewind fic). This chapter refers to Ch 8-11. Yes, now it's summer in my part of the world, but let's recall December of Junior Year, shall we?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

He had thought she was special from the moment he had first laid eyes on her. It had been sometime when they were both children at Temple. Rachel Berry. She was a vision, a Jewish American Princess. That's how he thought of her, until he'd learned that term meant something bad to some people. As a child, he just thought of her as his dream girl. But she had always rejected him. She'd called him "disgusting" more times than he could count.

Maybe he had been too forward. It was hard to prevent the dirty thoughts from entering his mind and exiting his mouth. It seemed like something that should work. But it didn't work on her. Still, he had always held a lingering hope that one day they'd be Jewish Royalty together.

Even when she had mooned over Finn Hudson, dated that Jesse St. James, he knew those wouldn't last. He knew in the end that she'd want to be with a Jew like him. They had so much in common. But her popularity stock was on the rise. And he only kept his social status in check through fear. When he learned she had gone back to _him_, it was the first time he realized he really, truly didn't have a chance with Rachel Berry.

But he didn't figure it out right away. It wasn't until December of junior year that the tiny flame of hope he had fed all these years was dashed out.

Of course he was going to the Winter Dance. People expected him to be there. But he wasn't going with the girl he wanted as his date. He saw her enter from his spot across the room.

She looked radiant—her tanned skin glowing in her short coppery dress. Just the sight of her was enough to give him half-wood. Luckily, his tuxedo pants were rather loose-fitting. And the sight of her date, _Finn_, was enough to send his semi-erection shrinking back down.

He wandered around the dance floor, taking notice of the action around him. Then he heard something of interest. It was Kurt Hummel, surrounded by some of the glee clubbers. "Who's in for it's one-sided from Rachel and Puck's not interested?"

Obviously, he slunk closer for a listen in time to hear Kurt follow up with, "Who's in for two-sided? And let's raise the stakes—who thinks they're having sex?"

Jacob gasped—literally gasped at what he overheard. His heart rate sped up inexplicably. He immediately scanned the crowd to locate Noah Puckerman. He felt his stomach churning when he saw that while Puck was with _Quinn Fabray_, he was looking, no staring—with that predatory stare—at _his_ Rachel. (Of course, _his_ Rachel was dancing with Finn Hudson, but that was beside the point.) If Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman joined forces once again, they'd be a Jew-tastic power couple that Jacob would be powerless to stop.

He had always hoped to keep Rachel Berry on the low end of the social totem pole in order for him to become her only viable option for a Jewish boyfriend in Lima. He thought eventually he'd wear her down and she'd be persuaded by his logic that their shared heritage and religious beliefs linked them unquestionably.

Of course, when Noah Puckerman had dated Rachel sophomore year, Jacob had been crushed (emotionally—though he had received threats about getting crushed physically as well a few times). He had been so relieved when it only lasted like what, a week? That meant he was still in the game.

Jacob had to know more about what was going on with this bizarre love polygon(?). Why was Rachel at the dance with Finn if the gleeks thought it was one-sided and it was Rachel who liked Puck? Because Jacob could clearly see that Puck was into Rachel. It was so obvious that it made him sick.

Besides, this was most certainly gossip and news in the making. And spreading news to the masses was Jacob's niche in the social hierarchy. That's the only way he made it through high school alive, he knew. If he didn't hold some type of power to make and break reputations, then he'd be dead—or at least seriously injured on a regular basis. He was actually a good writer—otherwise his blog would go unnoticed and ignored by his peers. Because he was good, he had the attention of the entire student body—even if nobody wanted to admit that they read it. The traffic to his site told the story. He had more hits than Madonna.

Jacob cursed at the music reference that bombarded his brain. Even now he thought about music references because of _her_. It didn't help that he'd been an honorary gleek for their sophomore sectionals run. He missed—ever so slightly missed—the companionship he felt just being a part of that moment for a brief time. None of the gleeks—who were still largely considered to be _losers_, the bottom of the social heap—none acknowledged him in any way that could be construed as friendly. They all only showed him disdain.

Sure, he had blackmailed one of their members to give him her panties… Forever ago. So maybe they held a grudge. But it's not like they had all been rallying around Rachel Berry either.

He had always had this problem. It was a superficial world. Maybe if he had a better personality, he would have faired slightly better (probably not). But since he didn't, he only had one asset: his power through words. So he listened. He watched. (And yes, took photographic evidence.)

The gleeks were abuzz around Kurt as he relayed the story of how he had basically stalked Rachel and saw Puck at her house one night. But the story Jacob overheard did not explain why Rachel was with Finn and Puck was with Quinn. Then, he witnessed an interesting sight.

A dance partner switch, initiated by Puck and Quinn. Finn did not appear to be pleased that Puck was leading his date away and had given him Quinn for safe-keeping. Jacob wrote furiously in his mini-notepad as he watched the scene unfold. The two couples were practically on opposite ends of the room, so it was hard to keep track of both. Of course, Jacob chose to move in closer to Puck and Rachel.

As he got nearer, he could see that the pair looked awfully cozy. Puck's hands were rubbing her hips as they danced.

It looked…inappropriate. But there was a look in Puck's eyes that wasn't that of a cougar hunting sex shark, but more like…a muscle-bound jock who was completely captivated with the girl of his dreams. Not that Jacob knew much about what love looked like, but he was alarmed by the downright adoration he detected.

His stomach recoiled as he thought about what this meant for him—what it meant for his dream of making Rachel Berry his. As Jacob watched, he heard a commotion behind him and the crowd separating a bit as the hulking Finn Hudson came stalking toward them. He was followed closely by Quinn Fabray and other gleeks.

Jacob caught the guilty expression that passed over Rachel's face as she looked at Finn. He saw Quinn looking as sick as he felt. He saw Finn looking simultaneously hurt and enraged (it was an odd combination, but it was definitely there). Quinn whispered something to Rachel, something Jacob couldn't catch.

Rachel answered out loud. "Oh, well I came with Finn, so I will finish the night with Finn of course." She threw an apologetic look to Puck.

Finn didn't seem too relieved. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he asked, "What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," said Rachel.

"Then what's with the looks? And the hands?" Finn paused. Jacob couldn't write fast enough. "Do you want to be with Puck?"

"Dude, we're just dancing," defended Puck. "Chill out."

Jacob thought to himself, _let the girl answer_. He was dying to know if Rachel did indeed want to be with Noah Puckerman. Instead, Finn started yelling.

"I will not chill out! It's you, it's always you! You take _everything_! You're ruining my life!" Finn reached around Rachel and gave Puck a shove.

He knew a good photo opportunity when he saw one. And it was no accident that this moment was captured for eternity by Jacob Ben-Israel's trusty camera. Puck being pushed by Finn, with Rachel in between them and Quinn looking on from the side. Jacob knew this entry was going to be _good_. He stuck around to see how the drama played out, but far enough away that he hoped he was safe from getting punched by one or both jocks. That meant, unfortunately, that he didn't overhear the rest of the undoubtedly juicy conversation.

He could see Rachel trying to calm Finn down. He saw Puck shrug. Finn started yelling again, and Jacob caught most of what he said.

"Friends? You never even talk at school! You ratted him out to me last year! _I'm_ your friend, Rachel! How could you do this to me?"

Rachel said something and gestured in his direction. Naturally, Jacob was leering at them, notebook in hand. What? It was the biggest story of the night—and maybe the year. Of course he was leering.

Finn nodded, and walked with Rachel as she guided him away from Puck and Quinn and Jacob. The glee kids who had been looking on took the cue to scatter, but Jacob followed Kurt to try to get an exclusive interview. He could see Hummel, Mercedes Jones, and Tina Cohen-Chang chattering animatedly as they headed toward the door. But as they exited the dance floor, they caught him following them, so they made a bee-line to the girls' restroom. And Jacob was about to actually man-up and follow them in—anything for a story. But Miss Pillsbury took that moment to turn the corner and head towards the restroom, giving Jacob a questioning look in the process.

So he immediately pivoted and headed in the opposite direction. But he'd seen and heard quite a bit—and captured an excellent picture of the most dramatic moment. He was practically vibrating with excitement from what he'd just witnessed.

Jacob went home and composed his gem of a piece. This one was certain to bring his blog a ton of hits. Sure, they weren't all at their most popular, but everyone loves to read about how the mighty have fallen. And everyone loves to read drama. After perfecting his masterpiece in the shortest amount of time possible (because timeliness is key when it comes to gossip), he felt a huge sense of accomplishment coupled with a sinking certainty that the tides were turning against him in his quest to win Rachel Berry. He felt a little better as he re-read his post. Maybe there was still hope for him since it was not clear from what he overheard who was going to end up with whom.

_Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman fighting over the same girl—? _

_No, this is not a re-run of a headline from last year. In fact, this year the good boy and bad boy jocks aren't fighting over the spooge-worthy cheerleader Quinn Fabray. They are fighting over glee drama queen Rachel Berry. (Yes, it seems we have entered Bizarro World.) Funny, even the girls' dresses reveal that this time the boys are fighting over the bronze medal while the gold medal prize looks on forlornly (look it up, jocks, it will help you with SAT prep). What is this about you ask? Well, my sources say this time there's no bun in the oven, but it may be only a matter of time given Puck's reputation. Here's what we know: Finn and Rachel appeared at the dance together, as did Puck and Quinn. The pairs switched dance partners during the evening, and Puck and Rachel appeared to be on the verge of an illicit kiss when Finn, Quinn, and a train of glee club spectators broke up the party. Who left together? The original couples left intact, but for how long? While this reporter has a place in his heart for beautiful in bronze Berry, one still must ask the obvious question: how can these two fight over Rachel Berry when golden goddess Quinn Fabray is available? Sure, she had a drop in status, but that doesn't change the fact that she's every guy's wet dream. She's still a Cheerio, and she'll probably climb back to the top of the social ladder by next year. Besides, she's had a baby, so we all know she's no longer the poster girl for celibacy, more like a future sororitute. My advice to you boys who may have a chance at it: snatch up Quinn Fabray while she's feeling vulnerable from her rejection by dim bulbs Hudson and Puckerman. They're idiots and you'd be a genius—or at least following the advice of a genius. _

_JB-I signing off._

Yes, he was totally a genius.

…

Jacob Ben-Israel was not a popular boy, but his blog was highly read for its gossip, and so he took some comfort in the fact that he was well-known for something. It helped make high school somewhat bearable for him, and he knew that without his blog, he would have been worse than nothing, he would have been a victim of merciless bullying and teasing. With his blog, he had some leverage, so although he had been threatened with violence, nothing came of the threats. He was very pleased that the whole school seemed to be talking about his latest entry from the weekend.

What he was less pleased with was the fact that Puck and Rachel were now seeming like they're a couple. It was subtle, so he couldn't be sure. But it was obvious that those two were around each other more often than Puck was with Quinn or Finn was with Rachel.

And that was just no good.

So Jacob decided to do what he did well—investigate.

Just by asking a few of his friends in AV club over the course of the next two days at school, he figured out that from what people were saying and seeing, that his story was basically the first indication that Puck and Rachel were a couple and that rumor was basically confirmed. But Jacob needed to see for himself. Besides, it had been awhile since he'd encountered Rachel and tried one of his new lines on her.

He was more nervous than usual to talk to her though. If Rachel really was with Puck now, he could be in for a toss in the dumpster just for talking to her. But he sucked it up. He had to know if it was true. He had to. His entire reason for living was at stake.

…

When Jacob didn't see the glee club practicing in the music room, he figured they must be practicing in the auditorium. There was a winter concert coming up. So he headed backstage to wait until they finished so he could congratulate Rachel on what would surely be a spectacular rehearsal and see if he could figure out if she was dating the meathead he feared she was instead of the meathead that was less threatening.

He settled in among one of the open stage curtains and pulled out some homework while he listened. He didn't really want anyone to see him and make him leave, but he wasn't really hiding either. He was just in a place where nobody noticed him. That was a frequent occurrence—nobody noticing. But listening to Rachel singing "Times Like These" was soothing and Calculus was boring. It wasn't long before Jacob drifted off to sleep backstage.

…

The next thing he knew, he was pretty sure he was dreaming. He was still too dazed to retrieve his glasses from where they had fallen next to his Calc book. So he sat listening and watching the fuzzy pictures dance in his dream.

…

"Mmm," Rachel moaned breathily. "I can't believe we're doing this."

"Believe it, baby," he said as he kissed her. "I know what my girl likes. And what would turn you on more than making out in the auditorium after you kicked ass in your solos?"

"You think I was good?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course you were," he replied smoothly.

Rachel let out a little squeal and jumped into his muscular arms. Puck used that opportunity to pin her to the wall and continue their make-out session with Rachel's legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. The girl was practically mauling him after that little compliment.

Then there were muffled sounds as clothing and bodies were grinding into each other, moans as lips and hands roamed and explored.

"This is amazing," Rachel sighed, "But we really should stop."

As Rachel caught her breath, Puck grunted in protest and continued working on her neck. "Don't wanna," was all he said. But he let her slide down his body so that she was standing instead of held up against the wall and his body.

"It's not that I want to stop," Rachel started. As soon as she said those words, Puck grabbed her ass and kissed her deeply.

"Then don't," he growled.

"Oh, Noah,"she breathed.

Then his hand was under her sweater, cupping her breast. She gasped, and he groaned at the sound she made. "You're so fuckin' hot," he told her.

She sighed something that sounded like "Amazing" again. Then, "I love you." Then, "Oh!"

…

Jacob stood trembling in the shadows. Rachel Berry saying, "I love you," to Noah Puckerman was too much to bear. And he knew that he wouldn't be having a dream about that. He had realized that he was actually awake awhile ago. It had taken several minutes, but Jacob final worked up the nerve to slink away from his spot backstage. He just didn't know if he could open and close the side door quietly enough to go unnoticed. But as he managed to escape with just the barely audible click of the door, he started shaking even harder as his heart pumped rapidly and he heard the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears.

What had he just watched? (Even though he couldn't see well without his glasses, he saw enough. And he could certainly hear everything except the whispers.) What had he just done? Was this voyeurism?

He was sickened. Jacob did not have a strong stomach. He bolted for the nearest place to puke his guts out. He hated the pathetic whine that escaped him as he hurled his lunch into the toilet. He wiped his mouth and headed to the sink to wash up and rinse out his mouth.

He knew this was one piece of news he was not going to report. He had already broken the story about Noah Puckerman and Rachel Berry to the entire student body. And because it was Puck, everyone (except Jacob himself initially) had assumed they'd be getting freaky in no time, if they weren't already. Jacob had practically witnessed it firsthand, but it wasn't really newsworthy, he decided. And besides, it just made him feel creepy.

And heartbroken.

It was official. Rachel Berry, his first love, would never be his. She had found her Jewish Prince. They really were a pair of attractive Jews, he thought abstractly. Disgusted, Jacob threw his paper towel in the trash. That was supposed to be _him_. He was supposed to be the one she'd love. Jacob stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror across from the urinals. His eyes watered at the sight staring back at him.

There was no hope for him. None.

He was miserable.

…

Jacob convinced his mother that he was sick and had to stay home from school the next day. She was concerned because it was so close to Winter Break, but she didn't really question him. Especially since the lack of sleep, watery eyes, runny nose, and his recurring need to retch bile made him appear legitimately sick. So instead of going to his Calc mid-term, he stayed home and wallowed in self-pity. He'd get an excused absence and make up the exam, so he wasn't worried about that. Jacob just didn't think he'd be able to make it through a whole day at school. He needed a mental health day to re-group and find a new direction.

New Direction?

He felt completely depressed when he realized that even his goal had the name of their stupid glee club in it. He had a long way to go to be ready to set foot inside McKinley again.

He was sure no one would miss him.

…

And no one did.

…

**A.N.** So, if you enjoyed the Puck/Rachel bits and still felt a little sorry for Jacob Ben-Israel, then my mission for this chapter was accomplished. **Tru-Pinai 4-eva** wanted more Puckleberry, so I tried to deliver here, even though this is from another perspective. Then I promise to write a pure Puck/Rachel chapter very soon with a scene that wasn't explored fully in the original story—if you're still interested in this fic…

I'm finished with my Support Stacie Auction stories, and having those to do was the reason I decided to write _New Perspectives_ to lead up to a _Junior Year_ sequel. Now that we've had the finale of Glee Season 1 and _Junior Year_ is way off from the show, I'm wondering if people are still interested. So please check my profile and take the **poll** to let me know if you want a **_Junior Year_ sequel**, and if so, what format. Thanks so much!

Finally,_ Junior Year_ is nominated for a **Glee fanfiction award** on Live Journal! (THANK YOU-You know who you are who nominated and seconded me through!) I'd love your vote! SO JUNE 12-26, please consider voting for my story for Best Completed Fiction. (And there are lots of other categories for all of your other favorites, but I'm only nominated for one so maybe pretty please consider me?)

community . livejournal . com/gleeawards/3431 . html


	4. Little P's Perspective

**A.N. ** This chapter is from the perspective of Puck's little sister, Sarah and covers chapters 9-18 of my first and favorite story of mine, _Junior Year_. (Moving quickly through, I know.) The purpose is to tell the highlights of what happened in that completed story to gear up for a sequel. But I've only had 14 people respond to the poll in my profile saying they want a sequel, so we'll see what happens. For now, we're reliving Puck and Rachel's relationship and their big fight through Sarah's eyes. (For those who haven't read _Junior Year_, you'll still be able to figure out what the fight was about just from this chapter, but reading those chapters listed above will give you waay more details!)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

Sarah Puckerman knew her brother was a stupid-head. She just never thought she'd feel sorry for the dummy. Whatever was wrong was probably his fault. He was stupid-head.

But he was moping around and playing sad songs. And Rachel didn't come over that day. So she found herself feeling bad for him. Plus, she liked it better when Rachel was there after school.

It took Sarah a little while to warm up to Rachel because they were both a little shy around each other at first. But it didn't take long for Sarah to realize that Rachel was way nicer than that Santana one. Plus, she was Jewish, so her mom liked her better than Quinn. Even though Quinn had lived with them and had baby Diana Isabel. But baby Dizzy, who was really cute when she wasn't crying, was gone now—with some nice family who would love her and take care of her. And Quinn had moved out before school started. So Sarah knew that Noah didn't love Quinn like he probably loved Rachel. He never said he loved Rachel or anything mushy like that. But he was stupid for her. Goo-goo eyes and everything. And he called her all the time. He didn't usually talk on the phone much before Rachel.

But then when he went that dance, he said he was taking Quinn. Sarah was confused and asked her mom if Noah was dating Quinn again. Her mom just said that she was confused too, and that Sarah shouldn't worry about her silly brother and his girlfriends.

So Sarah didn't.

Except that she kinda liked Rachel the best. When Rachel came over when their mom was at work, she always sang songs from the Disney shows with her, painted her nails, and fixed her snacks, and was just really nice. Back when Noah dated that San girl, they just locked themselves in his bedroom. And Noah didn't seem to date Quinn really, she just suddenly moved in and had a baby. Then the baby got a little bigger (and cuter) and Quinn moved away. And she never really came over after that. Sarah thought Quinn was really pretty (like Sleeping Beauty), but Quinn had always been too busy with Dizzy to really do anything fun with Sarah. So Rachel was definitely Sarah's favorite. And she didn't want her brother to screw it up.

Sarah was getting a little worried about this dance with Quinn instead of Rachel. Who would paint her nails? Noah always messed up and got the polish on her skin. Her mom was always too tired. Sarah was getting better, but she still needed Rachel to at least help with her right hand.

And just when Sarah thought she might need to remind Noah that Rachel was the best, Rachel was back. It was winter break, the dance was over, and Noah said he'd take her sledding and he was inviting Rachel if that was ok.

"Yeah! Of course it's ok, Noey! I can't wait!" Sarah started to run upstairs to get ready.

"Freeze!" he shouted. Sarah turned around to face her brother. "None of that 'Noey' stuff around Rachel, got it?"

Sarah rolled her eyes but didn't want to ruin her chance at sledding with him. Her brother wasn't always in a good mood to play with her anymore, and she was getting too old to play anyway. But they weren't too old for sledding! She nodded, "Got it." But then she couldn't resist looking over her shoulder and adding "No-ey!" before tearing up the stairs and locking herself in her bedroom. She collapsed on her bed in a fit of giggles as Noah banged on her door just after she had locked it.

"I'm serious, Sarah!" he bellowed.

Sarah just laughed as she started getting on her layers of clothes for sledding.

…

They drove to Rachel's house and Sarah scooted to the middle seat to let Rachel in beside her.

"Hi, guys," Rachel smiled at Sarah. "So, where are we going sledding?"

Noah answered. "Elementary school hill. It's pretty big, but I think we can handle it, right kiddo?" He elbowed Sarah lightly.

She grinned up at him adoringly. "Definitely!" Then she turned to Rachel. "Noah said you haven't been sledding in a long time. It'll be great. We'll show you." Sarah Puckerman liked the idea of having more experience in something than someone her brother's age. And she wanted to pass along her sledding wisdom.

"Yes, thank you, Sarah. I'm looking forward to it," said Rachel primly.

Sarah thought it was funny that Rachel sounded a little nervous about sledding, despite what she had just said. She smirked at Noah and he smirked back at her.

When they got to the school, Rachel seemed surprised by all of the people who were already sledding.

Noah told her, "Yeah, if you had a little sister like I do, you'd know that all the kids come here after we've had a good snow." Then, he took the opportunity to pull Sarah's hat down over her eyes. So she scowled at first, but she couldn't help but grin up at him.

She loved that stupid-head.

…

"Since you're out of practice, Rachel, you can watch me and Noah a few times," Sarah said, enjoying being bossy. Rachel nodded, and they all walked to the top of the hill together. Then Rachel waited while Sarah and Noah went sledding like they always did. He'd sled with her down the hill, and they'd have little snowball fights on the way back up the hill. After a few runs, Noah told her that it was Rachel's turn.

"Sarah, I'm going to sled down with Rachel once, so she can get the hang of it. You stay right here in this spot, don't move." Sarah narrowed her eyes at his tone, but she nodded reluctantly.

"Oh, that's ok. I'm happy just watching," Rachel said.

"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't invite you here to watch us. You have to try it. C'mon, I'll be guiding the sled. You'll have fun." Noah had grabbed Rachel by the shoulders, smiled at her, then sat her down on the sled with him.

"Alright, hold on tight!" he said into her ear.

Sarah watched as they raced down the hill. She could tell that Rachel was having fun by the way she was smiling and laughing. Suddenly she was tilting to the right and Noah was falling on top of her. Rachel was on her back in the snow with Noah laughing down at her. Sarah ran down the hill to see if Rachel was ok. Noah was heavy—she knew because sometimes he'd sit on her and torture her with tickle fights and stuff.

She realized they were fine when they started talking—then kissing—then rolling around in the snow.

Gross.

So, Sarah started making snowballs—which she hurled at them shouting, "Gross!" and "That's sickening!", followed by retching sounds.

Noah broke the kiss with a grin and pulled Rachel to her feet. "Alright already! We're sorry, kid! Lay off the snowballs."

"I apologize, Sarah. The excitement of sledding went to my head," Rachel said in her proper, kinda snobby voice.

She heard Noah whisper, "I don't think your head's where the excitement went." Rachel blushed again and walked a little faster ahead of Noah.

Sarah wasn't sure why, but she had an idea that something about that was dirty.

Boys are gross.

But then a girl with black hair and colored-streaks waved to them, and Rachel blushed and waved back. Sarah forgot to ask about her brother's dirty comment. Then Rachel turned to Noah, said something, and he gave a small salute-like wave to the girl as they continued to walk her way. Then Sarah noticed a little boy with the girl.

"Tina, hello!" started Rachel. "It's nice to see you. So you have a little brother?"

"Yes, this is Benny," Tina gestured to her brother.

"This is Sarah Puckerman," said Rachel. "Oh, I should have let you introduce her," she said to Noah.

"I can introduce myself!" exclaimed Sarah, as she stepped forward to shake Benny's hand. Everyone smiled at that, though Sarah didn't know why. Noah always said the Puckermans aren't scaredy-cats, so she was just being a Puckerman.

"Tina, my dads said I could invite some people over after sledding for hot cocoa. Would you and Benny like to come?"

Benny nodded. He seemed shy. But that meant he didn't say and do gross things like other boys, so Sarah decided that he was alright. He was kinda cute with really shiny black hair. But Benny wasn't cute like Finn Hudson. Finn was so tall and dreamy…

They all agreed to sled a few more times before coming in from the cold to have cocoa at Rachel's.

So although Sarah had started out worried, it turned out to be a great day. Except for seeing Noah and Rachel rolling around in the snow kissing after they fell off the sled.

Blech.

Except for that part, everything was great.

…

Sarah got to go to her friend Jenny's house on New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day the Puckerman's had a nice meal at home. Noah said that on Tuesday they might go sledding again. So on Tuesday morning she was up, and Noah was still in bed laying around. It was annoying, so she tried to make him get up by shaking him. "When are we picking up Rachel to go sledding?"

"Rachel won't be sledding, she's shopping with Finn," he said dully.

Sarah perked up at Finn's name. "We should go shopping with them, and then all go sledding afterward!"

"Oh yeah? Where were you when I needed you?" Noah said.

"Here, why?" she asked innocently.

"If only I had thought of suggesting that idea, then maybe I wouldn't have made an ass of myself and Rachel wouldn't have been a bitch."

"You said the a-word and the b-word!" Sarah was shocked.

"Yeah, no fucking shit."

Then Sarah started crying. She couldn't help it. Did he just call Rachel a b-? She didn't know what was going on and why Noah was so mad.

"Hey, runt, I'm sorry, I'm just mad about my fight with Rachel. I'm not mad at you, k?"

"I guess," she sniffled.

"You wanna try to help me?"

She shrugged dismissively. Why would she want to help him?

"You can help me think of a way to make Rachel accept my apology."

"That's easy. Sing to her."

"That's so retarded, it might just work."

"Hey! You're not supposed to say that word either!"

"Sorry, kiddo. Thanks for the idea. Now I just have to think of a good, manly apology song."

"Manly? Like the Jonas Brothers?"

"Hell no." He slammed his bedroom door in her face.

Oh! That poop-head! "Noah, the h-word!" Sarah huffed before she turned away and headed downstairs.

Sarah remembered that Noah had told her Finn hated him now, something about how Finn liked Quinn, and Quinn had Noah's baby. But Quinn wasn't around anymore, and the baby was gone, so maybe Finn and Noah were back to normal. Still, when she took Noah's phone from where it was charging to send a text to Finn, she made sure to start with "It's Sarah". Finn was cute and fun, and it would be great if he would come sledding with them. Sometimes Finn called her "Little P" which she hated, and she told him that. But she also secretly liked that he had a nickname for her. It seemed special. It made her stomach do flip-flops. When she finished sending the message, she realized Noah was still in his room, which would mess up their plans for the day. "Noah! You still owe me! You promised we'd go sledding!"

…

"Hey!" called Tina. Sarah ran toward Tina and Benny, and Noah trudged behind her dutifully.

"What, no Rachel?" grinned Tina. The smile dropped quickly at the dark look on Noah's face.

Sarah glanced between them, then piped up. "Rachel went shopping with Finn. She might come sledding after, right Noah?"

"Wrong." Sarah frowned. Then Noah seemed like he just thought of something. "Shit," he muttered.

"Noah! The s-word!"

"Shut it, we have to go," he frowned at his sister. "Later," he said to Tina. Sarah protested, but he just dragged her alongside him.

"I have to call Quinn," he said, as if that explained anything.

"Then call her already, and let's go sledding. Why are we leaving, Noah?"

He shook his head. "It's important. Sorry. We have to go home."

Sarah pouted, but it didn't work. Ugh, why was he such a jerk-face?

…

Noah locked himself in his room, so Sarah couldn't hear what was so important that he had to talk to Quinn about at home. But later she heard him practicing a song in his room, so she knew he took her advice. She was really pleased with herself. She was a little concerned though because the song she heard him singing didn't really sound like a love song. It had a lot of yelling sounds. Something about "fight to get it back again." Not really romantic. Still, the next day after school, she couldn't wait to find out the results.

"Did it work, Noah? Did the song work?" she asked eagerly.

"No," he answered shortly.

"That song didn't sound like an 'I'm sorry and I love you song," Sarah pointed out.

He grunted. "That wasn't the problem."

"You must've done somethin' really bad, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did," he nodded sadly as he plopped onto the couch.

"I'm sorry," she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, kid," he nodded.

"So what did you do?" she asked as she sat next to him

"Well, you know how Quinn and I had Dizzy, right? It's kind of about that."

"But Rachel already knew about that," Sarah protested. "That can't be the reason she's mad."

"Ok, fine, it's not the whole story," he said testily. "But it's a grown-up thing. And why am I talking to a snot-licker like you?" he stood up and headed upstairs.

"You're not a grown-up yet, Mom said so!" Sarah shouted after him. "And I'm not a snot-licker! You're a butt-licker!"

For some reason, he laughed at that instead of taking it as the insult that it was.

Stupid-head.

…

But Sarah sort of figured out what her idiot brother did. After dinner she was picking out her clothes for school the next day. She found her black winter socks—well, one of them, and she thought she'd check Noah's room since sometimes her laundry got mixed in with his. Mom would fold the clean clothes in laundry baskets and leave them in their closets to let the kids put the clothes away themselves. So Sarah went into his closet to see if her sock was in his basket. When she heard him coming up the stairs, she didn't think much of it. But as he got closer and she heard how upset he sounded on the phone, she made a split second decision to stay hidden in his closet and listen in. In the moment, it didn't exactly occur to her that she might be trapped there forever. That's what she thought of a few minutes later in a panic. But she did get to hear his side of the conversation.

"Q, I don't know what to do."

"Yes, I do regret kissing you after the dance. Obviously. …Uh, no offense."

"I think it's both the kissing and the not telling her about it that has her pissed, yeah."

"I get it already, I shouldn't have told her. You can stop bitchin' about it. It's too late now."

"Yeah, yeah. So, is Finn mad at you?"

"True dat. He can't really be pissed since he was there with my woman."

"Whatever, Q. I got flava. You know you liked my flava."

"Shit. Yeah, you're right. I do have to stop that shit. You know I'm just jokin', right?"

"She knows, I think. That doesn't change what we did. What I did."

"Yes, I told her I love her! Fuck, I'm not that dumb. That's like, the first thing I tried!"

"Yeah, I think she does still love me. Do you think she still loves me?"

"I don't know. You're a girl, so maybe you could like tell or something. But seriously, Quinn, what should I do now?"

"Yeah, alright. I'll give her time. And I'll keep telling her I love her and I'm sorry. Yeah, thanks."

"Bye."

…

Sitting in her brother's closet, Sarah couldn't believe what she had overheard. But she pieced together the puzzle of what her dumb-face brother had done to make Rachel leave. He kissed Quinn! And not a long time ago, but just recently! Then Sarah was confused again because she knew that Noah went to that dance thing with Quinn, and he just said that's when they kissed. So she wasn't sure what was so bad. She thought about asking Noah, but she couldn't really reveal that she'd spied on him.

Sarah sat listening to her brother, praying that he'd leave his room soon.

He did. She heard him head toward the hall bathroom and close that door. She scrambled out of his closet (quietly), and bolted to her bedroom.

Safe.

…

The weekends were usually a time when Sarah would get to hang out with Rachel a little bit (and get her nails painted). But not this weekend. Noah had a 'boys night' and Sarah got to spend the night at Jenny's house. When she got back, she found out that all of a sudden Noah was in some dumb band. That meant band practice, so he wasn't home after school. But Sarah felt like maybe that was his way of going farther with her idea of singing to Rachel. She hoped it worked. He was still a dumb-face, but he wasn't around as much, so she kinda missed him. And Rachel was never around. It had been like, over a week!

But he left a note about his first gig so Mom would know he'd be home late. The next day before school he was acting really happy. Sarah heard him singing in the shower—and not one of those sad slow songs. She pressed her ear to the door just to hear a little better.

"So tell me why don't you and I hold each other? And take on the world and be together forever?"

Sarah stood back and smiled. That was better. When he came out of the bathroom, she was waiting. She had to pee—but she also had to ask him.

"Did you sing that song to Rachel, Noey? It worked right? You got a better song and it worked?" she asked hopefully.

He gripped the towel around his waist with his right hand and tousled her hair with his left. "Yeah, I did. Well, I sang a different one first, then that one. But yeah, I guess it worked, kid."

Sarah smiled up at her brother before she passed him to get into the room he'd left. That was more like it. Rachel would be back in no time and Sarah could get her nails painted again.

But as she was taking her shower to get ready for school, she realized what was missing. Now that things were finally back to normal between Noah and Rachel, did he thank her for her help?

No.

That stupid-head.

…

**A.N.** Hope that was a nice change for you all!

Voting is open for the LJ Glee awards, and I'm nominated for Best Completed Fiction for _Junior Year_. Please consider voting for me between now and June 26. The information is in my profile. Thank you for reading!


	5. Introductions 1, 2, 3, 4,

**A.N.** This update comes from Chapter 15-18 of the completed story, _Junior Year_. The title refers to introduction of Josh Jordan, and how he's introduced to Puck, Rachel, Quinn, and Finn. If you want to see an approximate likeness of Josh, go to my profile. I added links to some pics of an ex of Lea Michele who fits the bill pretty well! For those who haven't read that story, don't be afraid of the original character! He was added for a reason and knowing about his existence will make a potential sequel of _Junior Year_ easier to follow.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or anything familiar.

…

Over winter break from OSU (Lima) he and the guys decided that they finally needed to hold auditions for a second guitarist and backup singer. Not that Josh couldn't hold his own as lead singer and guitarist. He totally was more than awesome, but a lot of the songs they played would sound better with a little extra. So they posted fliers and held auditions, but it wasn't until January that they found the guy. Of course, Josh had been very skeptical at first. Because really, who the fuck wears a Mohawk?

It didn't help that he came to the audition unprepared, looking like some freshman out trolling for a house party to crash. He hadn't called their number to set up the audition, he just showed up, banging like hell on the garage door while he and the guys were practicing.

Trey, the drummer, and Eddie, the bassist, had become his friends fairly recently even though they'd gone to school together forever. They may have been an unlikely bunch. Eduardo Alvarez, Charles Waterford (The Third), and Josh Jordan had been rather nerdy in junior high since they were all scrawny and brainy, but they were just classmates then, not really friends. They grew into their looks later in high school and became pretty good with the ladies—especially once they formed their band together in college three years ago. Of their trio, Josh was used to getting most of the attention—he was the lead after all. He was still on the skinny side, but ladies almost universally thought he was hot. So, yeah, he had grown rather confident. He tried to give off an extra confident persona anyway so that he'd be ready when he was discovered for his talent and the band made it big.

That's why it was troubling that the guy auditioning that night was so…charismatic. Josh was definitely not ready for someone to take over his spot as lead man in the band. He needed someone who was ok with being in the background. The dude standing in front of him did not seem like a background kinda guy. So from the moment they opened the garage door and saw him standing there, no guitar in hand, Josh was fairly certain this was not the right guy for their band.

But he played and sang and was pretty impressive. The guy said he was cool with being back-up, so he and the guys decided to give him a try. He was obviously a cocky douchebag, the way he flexed his arms when they asked him if he was a steroid-pumping freak. But he said he had a girlfriend, which put Josh's mind at ease somewhat that he wasn't going to be chasing after too many chicks. Chicks that he'd rightfully have first dibs on—as the lead singer/band founder and all.

So that was how Josh Jordan met Noah Puckerman.

…

And then when Josh first met Puckerman's girlfriend—well that was an interesting night. Though when the night began Josh was having second thoughts about allowing Noah "Puck" Puckerman into The Relentless.

Their first gig together was going pretty well. After the band finished playing their cover of "Dose," Josh was about to lead them in their next song when Puck took the microphone from in front of him.

"Hey everyone, we're gonna take five. Be back in a flash. Thanks!"

"What the hell, Puckerman?" Josh asked through gritted teeth.

"Dude, follow me backstage. You're sounding hoarse; I figured you could use a water break." Puck said.

That was crap, and Josh knew it—but you can never be too careful. So he and the guys followed Puckerman off the stage. Backstage, Puck exchanged the "backup" electric guitar for his acoustic guitar. Then he began to plead his case.

"Ok, while you're taking a break, I need to do an acoustic song, just one." Puck said quickly.

Josh was fuming at the nerve of this guy. Eddie and Trey looked at Josh for guidance—obviously. Puckerman quickly jumped in with his sob story. "Look, my girlfriend is mad at me and I really need to do this for the make-up sex. I didn't expect her to be here, but she is. She over-analyzes everything, so she's probably flipping out at the lyrics of the last song."

"Philosophy major," stated Trey knowingly. "Or maybe psych," he pondered. Josh rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Yeah, like that… Ok, so once I start, you guys can come back out and play along with the song. It'll be a great panty-dropper, I swear."

Josh was definitely uncomfortable with the idea of giving up the spotlight by letting Puck take the lead, even on just one song. This new guy had already left him feeling threatened by his…physical attributes (ok, fine, the dude had impressive guns), but at least he hadn't ever shown interest in taking over the lead role…until now. Josh shook his head and took a long swig from his water bottle.

"Trust me, dudes, I have this effect on the ladies. It's undeniable. But I'm just after one particular girl, so besides her, you can have your pick. I'm giving you the Puckerman guarantee that you will have women lining up to see us backstage at the end of the night."

Arrogant douchebag, thought Josh. But he showed restraint and didn't say a word.

"C'mon, just let him have this one. It's a win-win situation," Eddie appealed to Josh. Puck thanked him with a nod.

And Josh agreed with a nod. But he was not pleased—at all—by this turn of events.

"Thanks, man," said Puck. "Remember, once you pick up on the music, come on out and join me. I'm playing 'Would You Be Willing' by dog's eye view. I think the Lima crowd will dig the vibe."

So Puck went on stage to perform his stupid solo, plugging in his acoustic guitar to the amp and sitting down on the stool he brought from backstage.

Josh came in during the song and played a guitar solo, to the cheers of the audience, so that helped him feel pretty decent about the decision to sorta share the spotlight (then take it back). Trey picked up the drum beat and Eddie took the bass line. Puck gave them a nod when they joined him.

As Puckerman switched back to the electric guitar, he whispered to Josh, "Can we play song 10 now instead? Just to seal the deal?" Josh gave an eye roll—because seriously? Was he really asking for another favor? But he relented because their tenth song would flow better than their eighth number would with Puckerman's song—his little stunt to grab the spotlight.

"Ok," announced Josh to the crowd, "now that Puckerman got you in the mood for _love_, let's pick things up a bit!" The crowd started to cheer as they recognized the song. Josh knew that the twenties and thirties set always appreciated the songs that had been popular about ten years ago.

After a few more songs, they finished their first gig with their new member, but he had jumped off stage and was nowhere to be found. And that shit was not cool. They had equipment to load, the pay to settle with The Tavern—you don't just walk off like that!

Josh thought maybe the dude was redeeming himself when he saw him heading back toward them with his guitar. Instead, Puckerman was holding hands with this tiny brunette (pretty hot) and all he said was, "Guys, this is my girl. Rach, these are the guys. Later!" And in a flash, Puckerman was dragging the girl (Rach) unceremoniously toward the parking lot.

"What the hell?" asked Trey—expressing how Josh felt.

Eddie nodded, "He got out of bringing anything here except for his guitar, and now he's walking out on loading this shit!"

"Hey, you guys convinced me that we should take him," reminded Josh. "Let's just finish this, then we'll figure out how to deal with that little punk-ass."

The guys nodded and followed Josh's lead as usual. They finished tearing down the stage, and the manager came by to pay them for the gig. As they started carrying stuff out to the van, Josh thought he saw Puckerman's truck. "Hey, I'm gonna see if that's Puckerman to give him his cut. I'll be right back."

As Josh headed toward the truck, he noticed the windows were fogged so his first thought was that Puckerman and his girl were having an argument—he'd said she was pissed at him. It was quiet when he knocked on the window (no yelling like a fight) and didn't get a response right away. So his second thought was that they were making out or something in there. He heard some rustling and thought he detected Puckerman sitting upright in the cab. So Josh lifted the door handle.

What he saw was much more than he expected.

The girl, Rach Something, was facing Puckerman and straddling his lap. She looked toward Josh, blushing and biting her lip nervously—and she was definitely hotter up close like that than Josh had realized at first glance. Puckerman was holding onto her hips and she had her coat around her waist hiding their lower halves.

Josh grinned as he realized what he had just stumbled upon—were they seriously getting it on right there in the parking lot?

"Dude! What the fuck could you possibly want?" Puck yelled.

Josh just smirked and draped his arm over the truck door, continuing to leer at the sight in front of him. "Well," he said slowly, enjoying the uncomfortable situation he was provoking, "I saw your truck was still here after you two rushed out…so I thought I'd give you your cut of the profits from tonight. The manager gave us our pay after we tore down the set." He thrust a small wad of bills at Puck, who carefully removed one hand from Rachel's hip to take it. "And you know, we could've used you to help pack the equipment up in the van. It was kind of a dick move to leave us like that."

"Sorry, man. I'll make up for it later. Thanks for the cash." Then Puck hardened his tone, "Seriously. Can you, uh, go now? I'm in the middle of something."

"I see that," replied Josh, quite bemused. Josh stuck out his hand and said, "Rachel, right? I'm Josh. It's nice to meet you."

Rachel shifted and answered in a surprisingly prissy voice (considering what she was engaged in at the moment). "I'm sure I will see you again under better circumstances, and at which time, I will say it has been nice meeting you," she said primly to Josh, who raised an eyebrow. (How could this girl be caught fucking a guy in a truck but sound like Miss Manners at the same time?)

"Circumstances don't get much better than this!" Josh laughed. "But I'm sure _any_ circumstances would be a _pleasure_." He realized that sounded proper and suggestive at the same time, but the words had already left the station.

Rachel huffed and pulled her hand away as Puck growled, "Dude, lay off! Go find some groupies to bang, and close this door!"

"Uh-huh," nodded Josh, undeterred. "One last thing. Your punk-ass better not even _think_ of bailing on us like that after the show next weekend—the manager booked us, by the way. So I guess I'll be seeing you _both_ soon." With one last smirk, Josh slammed the door shut.

That was thoroughly enjoyable! And Puckerman wasn't kidding about make-up sex! Couldn't even wait to get to the privacy of home! Josh shook his head at his thoughts. Then he realized, hell, some people get off on the whole public sex—possibility of getting caught thing. So maybe he'd done them a favor, those pervs. He almost felt impressed with the way this guy could get action. Almost. The guy was still like his nemesis who was probably ready to take over his band at the first moment Josh showed weakness.

After disrupting Puckerman and his girlfriend, Josh headed back to the other guys to relay the story of his encounter. "Check it out. You're not gonna believe this shit…" he started. And he proceeded to describe the situation in great detail to Eddie and Trey (with only minor exaggerations). He might've said he caught a flash of boob and stuff like that. Whatever. It's all part of telling a good story.

"You know, the way that guy talked about his skills with the ladies, I never really thought of him as the girlfriend type. But if you can get a chick to do you in a parking lot whenever you want, that might be a trade-off worth making," Josh said, practically thinking out loud. "Puckerman owes us for leaving us hanging. I'm gonna make him set me up with one of his girlfriend's freaky-ass friends!"

Trey and Eddie nodded in approval of this worthy plan.

So the night Josh Jordan met Rachel Berry was…memorable.

…

Josh decided to play it cool since he was going to be asking for something from Rachel—so he wasn't going to say anything embarrassing to fuck up his chances at getting a date with one of her friends. He was in luck that on Wednesday night, Rachel joined Puck at band practice. Official introductions were made. Rachel said a stiff, "Nice to meet you," and settled herself on an old couch in the garage to do homework. She seemed really young in person to Josh. He was having second thoughts about his great plan. He didn't wanna pick up some chick fresh outta high school.

After they got set up for practice, Josh asked Puck, "Dude, is your girlfriend a freshman?"

"What? No, she's a junior! …But you know, she's obviously old enough, you saw her at The Tavern."

"Yeah, I did," Josh smirked at the memory of catching those two in the truck. "Thanks for reminder! " (Not that he needed to be reminded. He remembered as soon as he saw Puckerman bring his girlfriend. He just wasn't feeling like as much of an ass as he had on Monday night. Besides, he'd be asking them both for a favor soon.) "I just asked because she looks young. But hot."

Now that Josh had confirmed that Rachel wasn't jailbait, he went on with his true request. "So, remember how you owe me, Puckerman? I think you should set me up with one of your girlfriend's friends."

Puck's jaw dropped open. "Hell no. I meant I'd make it up to you by loading equipment. I'm not a dating service! Do I look like your match-maker?"

"How about Quinn?" piped up Rachel, standing up from her spot on the couch.

"What? No. There's no way my baby momma is hookin' up with Josh!" protested Puck.

"Dude! You have a baby?" cried Trey.

"You have a baby momma?" cried Eddie.

"Your girlfriend knows your baby momma?" asked a stunned Josh. This was an unexpected development.

They both nodded dumbly to all of the questions. Then they ignored their audience to talk amongst themselves, as Puck joined Rachel standing next to the couch.

From where Josh was standing, the two seemed to be bickering, then agreeing on something, with Puckerman seeming to get up on his girl for a bit, before he adjusted himself and got back to business. The guys watched this spectacle intently. The power dynamics were fascinating. Sometimes it seemed like Rachel wore the pants in the relationship. Other times it was clearly Puckerman. It turned out that they were both wrapped around each others' fingers, and they just seemed to switch back and forth between who had the upper hand.

Rachel turned to Josh. "We've agreed to ask Quinn if she's interested in meeting you."

"Excellent. So Puckerman, since this is your baby momma we're talkin' about here, do you happen to have a picture I can size up?"

Puck nodded reluctantly and glanced at Rachel as he pulled out his phone.

So he still had a picture of his baby momma on his phone, huh? Josh kinda couldn't wait to see this.

Then outta nowhere, Rachel spoke up. "Excuse me, Josh, but if you're only interested in sizing Quinn up for sex, then forget it. But if you want to meet her because she is attractive and you may find that you have complementary personalities that encourage you to explore a romantic relationship, then we will contact Quinn and ask her if she is interested."

Josh went to work to placate the girl. "Sure, of course. I apologize for my crass words, Rachel. Puckerman, I would be interested in viewing a picture of Quinn and hearing about her personality, if you don't mind," he said politely. Rachel nodded the okay.

Puck pulled up the picture handed Josh his phone. Josh looked at the smiling face of Puckerman and was thrown a bit because he mostly saw Puckerman scowling or smirking. The little baby in the middle was too adorable for words. But the girl—Quinn—was stunning. And he had a feeling that in person she'd be even more beautiful. Josh felt his throat tighten inexplicably. Eddie and Trey looked over Josh's shoulder. Finally, so as not to let himself get too caught up in the weird feeling he was having at the sight of this angel-girl, Josh let out a low whistle.

"Damn, Puckerman! You three are like a beautiful little family or some shit," praised Eddie.

"What happened?" asked Trey, oblivious to the painful blush which had started creeping into Rachel's cheeks as soon as Josh whistled.

But Josh noticed.

He wasn't really sure why she seemed embarrassed, but he figured it must be awkward to see dudes drooling over your man's baby momma.

Puckerman answered Trey's question. "Uh, well, it didn't work out between me and Quinn. We gave up our baby for adoption."

"What? Why?" asked Trey again. Josh thought Trey was being a social-idiot, but he was curious about all of this, so he didn't stop him.

Rachel ended up fielding this question, to Josh's surprise. "Well, they were actually very young when Diana Isabel was born. They were not appropriately equipped to raise a child."

"Really? Because Puckerman here looks the same, aside from that sappy smile," said Josh. "You're telling me that you have like a five year-old running around and that you and your baby momma have been broken up for a long time? But you, the three of you, are like best friends?"

Puck glanced at Rachel before finally answering, "Well, my daughter isn't five, and Quinn is a little younger than I am, but yeah, we've been broken up for a while. We're not into each other, obviously," he said as he pulled Rachel to him with his arm around her waist. She gave a half-smile but Josh thought she still looked a little sick. "And I wouldn't say we're best friends, but we all see each other regularly." Puck finished.

Josh decided that drama or no drama with Puckerman, he really had to meet this beautiful woman. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm very much looking forward to meeting Quinn. Do you wanna shoot a picture of me to show her? Help her with the decision?"

"Uh, ok," Puck said in a half-hesitant, half-sarcastic voice.

Josh knew that Puckerman probably thought he was a douche, but he didn't really care. Even if Quinn had gone for Puckerman before—who was clearly a different type of guy, he felt pretty confident that a picture could only help his cause.

"So, you got any other single friends?" asked Eddie.

Rachel politely said no. Josh and Puck snickered, then exchanged smirks.

Josh freaked a little at the thought of bonding with his potential rival. But as long as Puckerman kept his word at being cool with second string, things would be just fine.

…

Josh couldn't wait to find out the verdict about the date. The first words from Josh when Puck and Rachel showed up at his place for the next rehearsal: "Have you heard anything from your friend Quinn?"

"As a matter of fact, we have. _Puck_ was supposed to give you Quinn's number." Rachel said.

"Must've slipped my mind," Puckerman muttered.

Josh was pretty damn excited to get Quinn's number. He didn't really know why, but he had a really good feeling that they were going to hit it off. He kept thinking about her beautiful face throughout rehearsal and the time flew by. He was even extra-nice to Puckerman because he was so thrilled that he was actually going to meet the goddess from the picture.

…

Josh was surprised when Puckerman's girlfriend basically orchestrated the date. He had planned for them to meet up for drinks—you know, casual and cool. Somehow she performed a Jedi mind trick on him or some shit because she ended up convincing him that Sal's Italiano would be perfect—and for about 30 seconds she somehow managed to make him think it had been his idea. He found himself shaking his head and parroting her words, "Sal's _would_ be perfect" like he was all amazed at the brilliance. He was shocked at the words coming out of his mouth and in that moment realized her evil powers of persuasion. And she didn't even offer any sexual favors! She just had a way of talking and making these little faces…

Anyway, it was easy for Josh to see how Puckerman could be so tightly wrapped around her tiny little finger.

Somehow, she had also convinced him just to meet up with the three of them instead of picking up his date like a proper gentleman. Something about how it would be better to keep things comfortable and casual. Josh didn't remember. He just found himself nodding at her, and suddenly, Rachel was clapping her hands to her chest and saying, "Excellent! Then it's all settled. We'll meet you at the restaurant for a nice dinner!"

That girl was good.

And so, Friday night was double date night between Josh and Quinn and Puck and Rachel—at Sal's—with Josh waiting for his companions to arrive. He spotted Puckerman with that ridiculous 'hawk right away. Rachel looked great—in nicer attire than what she wore to hang out in his garage (which honestly was a little too school-girl for Josh's taste). But when he saw the blond on the other side of Puck, his jaw dropped—he couldn't help it. She was even more amazing in person. He hoped she didn't notice his over-the-top reaction.

"Josh, I'd like to introduce you to Quinn Fabray," said Rachel. "Quinn, this is Josh Jordan, lead singer of the band The Relentless."

"It's nice to meet you," said Quinn politely.

"The pleasure is all mine," said Josh—in a polite way, not a sleazy way.

Josh led Quinn to the booth they were seated at by placing his hand very lightly on the small of her back. He was trying to be a gentleman but also try to figure out how she reacted to him. So far so good.

Josh sat across from Quinn, so Rachel slid in next to Josh. Puck raised his eyebrow at her, but slid in next to Quinn. Josh fought the urge to roll his eyes at Puckerman because, c'mon, he wasn't going to be flirting with Rachel just because they were sitting next to each other. It wasn't hard to fight that urge because he was so engrossed with Quinn Fabray.

It took him a while to realize he was just staring at her and she was blushing. Rachel spoke up, which triggered him to pay attention. He saw Puckerman looking pissy and Quinn blushing—with this beautiful pink tint across her cheeks.

Shit. He was already getting it bad. Right, Rachel was saying something.

"So, Josh…tell us how you formed your band," she said.

Josh looked at Rachel, embarrassed and relieved at the same time. "Thanks, Rachel. You're saving me from myself," he smiled.

"I don't understand," said Rachel.

Josh looked at Quinn apologetically. "You're just so…radiant. I can't believe this is real." Out of the corner of his eye, Josh saw Puck acting like he was going to puke, and he heard Rachel kick him under the table. Unfazed, Josh continued, "But I apologize for staring at you like this. I'm totally going to snap out of it, promise," he beamed at Quinn. "As Rachel probably knew, it's always easiest to talk about oneself." He glanced over at Rachel and gave her a smile to show his gratitude.

Rachel looked pretty surprised, but Josh turned to Quinn quickly.

Quinn laughed lightly at his admission. "That's so flattering. You're very sweet. I _would_ like to hear how you started your band."

"Yeah, Josh, how _did_ you start your band?" Puck contributed by mockingly putting his elbows on the table to hold his head in his hands, looking as though he were enraptured by Josh.

"Well, we weren't much of a band until Puckerman came along," Josh laughed good-naturedly. The guy was kinda funny—even if Josh himself was the target. He was in a really good mood that even Puck's antics couldn't dampen.

Puck slowly lowered his hands, looking stunned that Josh didn't react.

"We actually went to high school together, but didn't hang in the same crowds. Turned out that none of us could afford to leave Lima for college, and we all had freshman English together. Classes were kind of a breeze, and we all could use extra cash, so we started a band and tried to play parties and stuff. See, Eddie and Trey had been in a band, but their frontman went away for school. They needed a charismatic leader." Josh grinned. Puck rolled his eyes. "Things picked up once we turned 21 and could play the bar scene. Shortly after that, Puckerman came along, and that brings us to the present."

"You all went to high school in Lima? You didn't go to William McKinley, did you?" Quinn asked.

"No, we all went to the Christian school."

Quinn smiled widely. "Really? How wonderful."

"Why, did you all go to McKinley? Is that how you three met?" asked Josh.

"Yes, exactly. We did all go to McKinley together, but that was a while ago," Rachel said quickly. Puck shot her a look, which Josh wasn't sure about—and she flashed him a dirty look back.

Which was weird and didn't make any sense to Josh. But they had a lovely meal, pleasant conversation, with Josh barely registering Puck's attempts at sabotage. Josh couldn't blame Puckerman for being uncomfortable that he was on a date with his baby momma and his girlfriend. He just hoped Puckerman would be cool with Josh seeing Quinn again—if she wanted of course.

At the end of the meal, after the guys paid the checks, Puck announced that he was going to warm up the truck. "I'll go with you," smiled Rachel. She gave Quinn a reassuring nod, before trotting after Puck.

Alone at last!

Josh knew he should dial up the charm factor, but he couldn't seem to get it in gear. He didn't have any smooth lines to use on her. Instead, he decided to be honest. He reached across the table and held her hand. "So, do you think you'd be willing to go on a date without the peanut gallery?"

Quinn's lip twitched into a small smile before she asked, "Peanut gallery? Puck and Rachel?"

Josh smirked at his own antiquated term. "Ha! Yes, our audience that included a little heckling from Puckerman there." He leaned across the table a little. "Do you think this double date introduction was enough to convince you to go on a date with just me?"

Quinn blinked those incredible eyelashes of hers—seriously, could they _be_ any longer?

Oh hell, he was channeling Chandler Bing! Good thing he didn't say that out loud! He raised an eyebrow as he (impatiently) awaited her answer.

She bit her lip while she pondered. That shit was seriously hot as fuck. Damn. Then she smiled and it was like the heavens opened and angels sang—like he could almost see the light surrounding her and hear the voices!

"Yes, I've had a great time, Josh," Quinn said. (She was still letting him hold her hand.) "I would love to see you again sometime."

"That's great!" Josh said—a little too enthusiastically.

Quinn seemed to suppress a giggle. "Well, I think I've kept them waiting long enough," she extracted her hand from his gently and stood up to leave the table. Josh stood up too. Then she turned on the seductive switch or something because when she said, "You have my number. Call me," Josh was feeling like he was 16 again and getting insta-boners.

Shit. Beautiful and angelic one minute, sexy as hell the next? Josh knew he was in big trouble with this girl.

And that was how Josh Jordan met Quinn Fabray.

…

When Josh met the fourth musketeer of the little McKinley club, he didn't think much of it. Finn Hudson filled in on drums for Trey when he had to miss a gig for his grandpa's funeral. It was actually Rachel who stepped up and suggested Finn, for which Josh was grateful.

Of course, the whole thing happened around one of these little moments between Puckerman and Rachel that was so disgustingly sweet it made him want to gouge out his eyes.

After Trey left practice and they all sat there not knowing what to do or say, it was Rachel who spoke up.

"Noah has a," Rachel started, but was interrupted by Puck.

"Babe, what did we talk about?" he raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes. "About what to call me around the guys…"

"You said to call you 'Puck' around the guys," she sighed. "But I really don't think that me calling you by your given name will…" Again, she was interrupted. This time, Puck brought his fingers together, forming a closed beak.

"Shhhh," he hissed, imitating Dr. Evil from _Austin Powers_.

"_Really_? _This _is better than me calling you 'Noah'?"

"Shhhh."

"Fine! _Puck_ has a friend who plays the drums!" she shouted.

"You don't have to yell, Berry," he said.

She snapped her mouth shut and glared at him.

"Dude, what was that all about?" Eddie asked Puck.

"Oh, nothin'. She likes it. It gets her hot for me." He threw a smirk over his shoulder at Rachel.

"You're so immature!" she huffed.

"But you love me!" he teased.

She folded her arms across her chest, but her smile broke through.

"Whoa! You really do love each other! Awesome, guys!" exclaimed Eddie happily. (Totally gay. Josh couldn't help rolling his eyes.)

"Uh yeah, of course we do," replied Puck, looking from the guys back to Rachel, and the couple exchanged brilliant smiles.

For the second time in one week, Josh sort of admired Noah Puckerman. He had a girlfriend who'd screw in a _parking lot_, _and_ they _loved_ each other! That was one lucky bastard. But Josh couldn't allow himself to admire Puckerman. He was like his arch-nemesis. And it really was a disgusting display that he wished he'd never witnessed.

"So, Rachel, you mentioned a drummer?" Josh steered them back on track.

"Yes, _Puck's_ friend, Finn Hudson, is a very proficient drummer. I'm sure with rehearsals this week; he could be sufficiently prepared for your performance so that you don't have to cancel."

"Oh, Berry, you and your scheming!" sighed Puck.

"This isn't scheming, it's helping!" she protested. "Josh, shall I arrange for an audition?"

"Why yes, Rachel, that would be very helpful," Josh said smoothly.

…

So Josh and Eddie put Finn Hudson through an audition and let him sweat it out a bit (for like a two minute consultation between the three bandmates while Finn fidgeted on the couch waiting for the word). The guy seemed cool enough, if a little on the spazzy side. Really, not much about him registered with Josh except that he was tall and had a stupid name.

It was only after Josh found out that Finn was Quinn's ex and was still making a play for her that Finn Hudson replaced Noah Puckerman as his true nemesis.

…

**A.N.** I'd love it if you check out the poll in my author profile asking if you want to read a sequel to _Junior Year_. Only 24 people have responded so far. There are 7 options and you can select up to 5.

I'd also really love your vote for the LiveJournal Glee Awards for Best Completed Fiction for _Junior Year_. Voting ends June 26. The full link is in my author profile too, or you can make modifications to this link here. **community .livejournal .com **


	6. A Little More Quinn

**A.N.** This chapter comes from the beginning to chapter 19 of the completed story _Junior Year_. In a review a while ago, **fresch** suggested Quinn as one of the characters she'd like to see a little more from in this rewind fic, and I thought that would fit well after the Josh chapter. Next up will be Valentine's Day & Kurt Hummel for **LizzayMartini**. (I'm still planning to do Tina and Finn (as **fresch** suggested), and Jesse St. James, and we'll see who else makes the list.) The whole thing will be wrapping up in a few more chapters to lead into the continuation story for the summer after Junior Year.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Glee or anything familiar

…

There was a time in her life when all she ever wanted was to be popular. And there was a time when she had all she ever wanted. But it didn't last as long as she'd hoped. And when Quinn Fabray fell from the top, she fell hard.

She had popularity and lost it. She had Finn and lost him. She had Puck, but threw him away. She had a daughter, but gave her up.

In summary, it kinda sucked to be Quinn Fabray.

It sucked for those around her too.

Yes, she felt sorry for herself. But she also recognized the pain she'd caused for people she cared about (loved), all because of her actions.

So she was determined that she was going to figure out what she wanted, figure out how to get it, and try not to hurt anyone in the process. Junior year of high school was her fresh start. She knew allowing the Harris' to adopt her daughter was the best thing for everyone involved-especially baby Dizzy. She knew she wasn't in love with Puck, as much as she had tried to force it. She was still in love with Finn—or at least the idea of what they could be together.

So her goals for junior year included: 1) make honor roll and do all the necessary college prep stuff since the parents aren't going to help with college; 2) try to get back together with Finn, if he'd let her; 3) try to be a better friend in general; 4) try to let go of the daughter she gave away and the life she lost, while not forgetting, you know?; and 5) get her popularity back as much as possible to please her mother and to bring some happiness back into her life.

Maybe those goals weren't in order, but they were basically what she was working toward. She was already on her way to fulfilling #5 since she was back on the Cheerios. Sometimes #4 was easy, and sometimes it was hard. And sometimes she felt really guilty that #4 was on her list at all. She thought #3 wouldn't be too hard, but #2 was not going to be easy—and maybe it would be impossible. But she owed it to herself to try because her heart always went back to Finn Hudson. For #1, she had eliminated anything that she didn't think would help that goal, which is part of the reason why she hadn't joined glee club that year. The other reason was that she didn't think she could bear to see Finn singing with and mooning over Rachel Berry like she knew he would. Quinn knew that she couldn't compete with Rachel on the playing field of the glee club. If she was going to get back into Finn's heart, she'd have to find another way.

But the first week of school Rachel Berry somehow convinced her that the two of them should start an all-girls' ensemble group. Quinn had been skeptical. But it sounded...nice. And Rachel Berry could be very persistent and persuasive. When Mr. Schue rejected the girls' choir idea, Quinn stayed in New Directions (kind of by force from Mr. Schue). But she was hoping that she and Finn could fall in love again (especially after she heard that Rachel had broken up with Finn over the summer before junior year).

But after the Winter Dance, when she and Puck went together because Finn asked Rachel, Quinn nearly lost hope. Finn seemed into her while they were dancing together—until he saw the way Puck was dancing with Rachel. Then he lost it. His feelings for Rachel were obvious. And Quinn had been pretty devastated.

Devastated enough that finding comfort by kissing Puck after the dance seemed right somehow. Comfortable and safe. He had matured so much and he _was_ the hottest guy she knew. They had shared so much—seriously, they had a baby together! If Finn wasn't an option, then maybe she really should reconsider Puck. She loved Puck in her own way, she truly did. And she loved feeling wanted again as she slipped into his arms as they sat in his truck outside the school. The kiss just happened because he was comforting her after she had started crying over Finn.

Puck had a way of making her feel so special even when in the back of her mind she knew better. Well, that night of her lost virginity she knew better—she knew it was all lines and well-rehearsed moves. But after that, when they tried to raise Dizzy together, she thought it was real—that he really had feelings for her. And as they kissed in the parking lot outside of the school dance, she thought maybe he still had those feelings. Maybe she still had them a little too.

But he stopped them before it went too far. Because Quinn stupidly asked if his mom was home. She was enjoying their make-out but not the venue of his truck. So she ruined the moment and Puck (yes, Noah freaking Puckerman) said they should stop.

Quinn figured out that it was because of Rachel. It always came back to Rachel Berry.

At first, she was a little pissed. And jealous. First Finn, now Puck?

It didn't take Quinn too long to recognize that she had just been hurt over Finn's rejection and that her fleeting feelings during the kissing session did not mean that she wanted Puck back. They had already tried to be together and failed. She knew it was time to move on and that they were better as friends. So she wished him luck. And warned him not to get hurt—because it seemed like Finn and Rachel always came back to each other. She was concerned about him, so she warned him. What else could she do?

Quinn was finally ok with it—at least with the idea that Puck liked Rachel. She wasn't sure she was ok with the way Rachel Berry had swept into her world and turned everything upside down. But it was hard not to kind of like her a little after Puck suggested that she ask Rachel for help with Finn. And Rachel was all-too-eager to help. Working with Rachel to come up with a way to make things right with Finn was definitely awkward, but there was something strangely sweet and honest about that girl too. It made her feel bad that she and Puck had kissed that night after the dance. But since she was finally becoming friends with Rachel, Quinn didn't tell her (or apologize) about kissing Puck. She wasn't sure if it was her place or what to say. Quinn was hoping to avoid the whole thing altogether.

After working with Rachel, Quinn made a last effort to apologize to Finn in song during glee. Either he didn't get it or he didn't want to. He had a strangely profound response to her song. He told her that he couldn't vote for it for Sectionals because it wasn't the right fit. Quinn couldn't tell if he meant that just for the song or if he was really saying that _they_ weren't the right fit. Sometimes it was hard to tell with him. He could be the biggest idiot one minute, and then practically brilliant the next. It was kind of adorable and astonishing.

But after all her effort, Finn suggested that he and Quinn work on being just friends. So when Puck randomly came by her locker with Rachel and talked about setting her up on a date, Quinn was actually looking forward to meeting the cute older guy. A nice date for fun without the drama of last year at McKinley hanging over her head: it sounded perfect.

And after meeting Josh, she felt...amazing. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at her like that and actually seemed interested in her as a person.

It was her fault, she knew, from her actions-burning bridges with Finn and with Puck. So it was nice to have someone who didn't care (or know) about all of that in her past.

And after the date it was strange but so much fun to chat with Rachel about Josh. Yes, she realized how bizarre that was. It was bizarre even without the jumping and squealing in the parking lot (which they totally did). Quinn was a little surprised that Rachel had orchestrated the whole thing as a way to use Josh to make Finn jealous. A _little_ surprised. This was Rachel Berry after all.

"How do you feel about that Quinn?" Rachel asked about her plot.

Quinn thought for a few moments. As she was about to speak, Puck interrupted with a, "Hold up. Let's get in the truck and get outta here. I'm freezing my nuts off, and the truck is nice and toasty since I went out here to warm it up like _an hour ago_!"

The girls rolled their eyes at him, but complied. He was right, and they could continue their conversation in the heated truck, which they did. Quinn could tell Puck was annoyed by her little discussion with Rachel about how Josh was so nice and cute but that she might still have some feelings for Finn. But she didn't care that Puck was grumbling under his breath because it was such a relief to talk to someone like this again. Rachel was surprisingly easy to talk to about this stuff, even as she sat next to Puck. Quinn had a realization about how strange the relationship between the three of them had become, but it was a brief flash and then it passed. She told Rachel that she wondered if it would be better for her to start fresh with Josh instead of pining over Finn. Rachel nodded supportively.

Quinn told her that she and Josh were going on a date alone on Saturday, and Rachel squealed with her in another bonding moment. Puck swerved the truck a bit, so the noise must have startled him, but Quinn was too excited to really care.

When they arrived at her house, Quinn felt like she was finally in a good place in her life. Maybe she had a little hope. She thought about her goals for the year. Goal #1 was college-prep stuff, and she was in several study groups, including one for Trig with Rachel, Kurt, Mercedes, Tina, and Artie. (Of course, she had invited herself into that one, which was unfamiliar territory for Quinn.) But still, goal #1 was coming along fine.

Even though she hadn't planned to become better friends with Rachel Berry specifically, this new friendship definitely fit into goal #3, as did repairing her friendship with Finn. And that didn't exactly contradict her goal #2 of getting back together with Finn. But now that Josh was in the picture…

Moving on to goal #4, Dizzy. Quinn felt so much better after going with Puck to visit their daughter over Thanksgiving Break. And it turned out to be Rachel's idea, which was weird, but it made perfect sense and was so sweet really. Quinn smiled to herself when she thought about how beautiful and happy little Diana Isabel seemed with the Harris family. Maybe it really would be alright.

Oh, and goal #5, the popularity stuff. That didn't seem so important at the moment. It was her relationships that were becoming more important now. Even if they seemed to be unlikely friendships.

…

Things got a little awkward again when Rachel caught up with Quinn at lunch on Tuesday. "I have a magnificent idea, Quinn, and I want to know if you're interested."

"Ok?" Sometimes Rachel Berry still frightened Quinn with her plans and…intensity.

"Wouldn't it be fun to perform with the band? I'd like for us to perform a song for the boys at their rehearsal and see if they'll use it in their show on Saturday. I think it will help clear up your current romantic situation." Rachel handed Quinn the music to No Doubt's 'Don't Speak'.

"Oh, I like this song, but I don't see how this will be sending a message related to Josh." Quinn stated, then she looked at Rachel suspiciously. "You're up to something. Puck mentioned this about you."

"He did? When?"

"Oh, it was a while ago…" They both knew why Quinn didn't elaborate on when Puck had given her this information. "Look, Rachel, I'm really sorry about, you know…" Quinn started but Rachel held up her hand to stop her.

"It's ok. We're basically friends now, right?"

"Basically, yes," Quinn couldn't help but smile at the way Rachel qualified her statement. They _were_ 'basically friends'. Maybe they weren't completely normal friends… Rachel was continuing to talk.

"So, we don't have to talk about the past. We're both moving on." Quinn nodded in agreement. Rachel continued. "I will let you in on my plan. The lyrics don't have anything to do with Josh. What I didn't mention is that Finn is temporarily replacing Trey while he's out of town. The lyrics actually fit your situation with Finn."

"What?"

"This is a good thing, Quinn. You'll both figure out your feelings. We'll both sing the song, and we'll sing it toward all of the boys. You'll see how Finn reacts, and you'll see how you react to Josh. You'll find out who you like and if Finn likes you… I think we can tell Josh likes you."

Quinn blushed and nodded.

"So, what do you say?"

"Let's do it," Quinn smiled. Puck was right, she thought, Rachel _is_ like an evil genius.

…

When the little plan unfolded at the band's rehearsal on Thursday, Quinn Fabray really appreciated the genius of Rachel Berry. Up until the point when things got awkward. But that was more Finn's fault than anyone else's.

Rachel got to it right away, asking the band if she and Quinn could be guest singers for this next show.

Quinn could tell that Josh was skeptical.

"We sing competitively, and we're quite good," Rachel stated.

"They really are. Isn't that right, Finn?" prodded Puck.

"Yep, they're terrific singers," Finn nodded.

"I took the liberty of copying some music. Quinn and I will perform this song for you, as you play, and you can decide if you'd like to add it to the set list this weekend." Rachel passed out the music to 'Don't Speak.'

Quinn gave Josh a sultry look, "Please? Just let us put on a little show for you." Josh brightened and looked pleased, which pleased Quinn. She was vaguely aware that Finn had clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the drumsticks. But she was more interested in Josh's smile and response.

"When you put it like that, what choice do I have?" he shrugged and grinned. Quinn kissed his cheek and Josh's smile widened. Finn frowned.

Quinn could tell that she and Rachel had all of the boys in the palms of their hands (so to speak) during their performance. Especially when she and Rachel sang to each other. She wasn't oblivious to the fantasies most guys would be having during their little show.

"Well, what did you think?" Quinn asked Josh when they finished. Josh brought his hand to his chin, stroking his scruff and making a show of pondering his decision. Rachel and Quinn both huffed and stomped their feet, glaring with their hands on their hips, causing all of the guys to burst out laughing.

"You're in for Saturday," proclaimed Josh. Quinn squealed and threw her arms around his neck. Rachel had a similar reaction with Puck.

Puck couldn't help bragging on his girl, which Quinn actually found sweet in a weird 'I should be jealous but I'm not' way. "You should hear Rach sing something with a wider range. This was nothin'." Puck beamed proudly and Rachel beamed back at him.

Ok, maybe Quinn wasn't jealous, but she did think they were disgustingly adorable. There is such a thing as _too_ cute. Especially when it involves _Puck_, McKinley's self-proclaimed _sex shark_, looking like a _puppy dog_! He had matured a lot, but still, this sight was a little too much for Quinn.

"Well, it's just this once—we're not becoming a chick band, got it?" said Josh. Puck and Rachel exchanged smirks at Josh's statement. Quinn just smiled at him. Of course she wasn't planning on taking over his band or anything, but later she might confirm to him that he's right to watch his back around Rachel.

Finn pulled her attention away from Josh. "So, Quinn, I was just thinkin'…You never told me what you and Puck bought Dizzy for Christmas this year. I remember you mentioned that you were going to go shopping together."

Quinn blushed. Where'd this come from?

"Yes, Finn," Quinn answered. "That was weeks ago, but thanks for asking. Puck and I bought her a teddy bear and a darling little dress."

"Wait, you know their daughter too?" Josh asked Finn.

"Yeah, of course. Quinn called their baby Dizzy because _I_ wanted to name her Drizzle… Not that I had any reason to name _their_ baby," Finn said pointedly.

Josh looked pretty weirded out, Quinn thought. "And you all probably went to high school together, huh?" Josh asked.

They all just nodded.

"What, do they grow musicians on trees at McKinley?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Hardly," scoffed Rachel. "You're looking at four of the star members of the McKinley High Glee Club… I mean, former members, of course."

"Right," said Josh. "_Four_ of you?"

"Finn sings too," said Quinn quietly.

"Huh," came Josh's noncommittal response.

Josh finished the set list, and the rest of practice was uncomfortable at best. "Luckily, we still have Friday to rehearse," Josh told the guys. "Uh, Quinn, Rachel, I think you two are excellent performers. You don't need to rehearse with us on Friday. We'll just be making sure that Finn and Puck can keep up with our songs since they're the new guys."

So Quinn and Rachel were politely banned from Friday's practice. Which was just as well since they would have extra long glee rehearsals, considering that Sectionals were Saturday. Rachel looked at Puck to say something. He just held up his hand and nodded to say 'I know'.

"Finn and I will be late on Friday, but we'll be here. We have a thing until about 8, but we'll stay and practice as long as it takes, right Finn?"

"Right…Well, we also have that _thing_ really early in the morning too, so…not too late…"

Josh just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, guys. Do whatever you want. Eddie and I will be here." Eddie nodded supportively.

Quinn could tell that Josh was upset. "Well, it sounds like I won't see you Friday, but I'm looking forward to seeing you Saturday," she smiled shyly.

Josh softened. "Yeah, me too. Your song will be a great addition to the show."

"Oh!" exclaimed Rachel. "Josh, can you get us some backstage credentials so we can wait in the wings until our cue for the song?" Quinn thought that was smart of Rachel to find a way for them to avoid revealing that they didn't actually have id to say they were 21.

Josh waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need anything. Just come in with us and you'll be fine."

"Great! See you then. Bye Eddie!" Rachel flounced to the couch to gather her things so they could leave. Puck had driven Quinn and Rachel in his truck and Finn had driven separately. After Quinn gave Josh a chaste kiss on the lips, Finn asked her if she wanted a ride home with him.

Quinn accepted.

She saw Rachel and Puck share a smirk.

…

The night of their show at The Tavern, everything went off without a hitch. The girls pulled off their duet with their best Gwen Stefani impressions. Quinn could tell that Finn was enjoying filling in for the missing drummer. Backstage they were glowing in the success of their performances. Finn, Eddie, Puck, and Rachel were actually talking happily, while Josh and Quinn moved to a dark corner.

Quinn was on a bit of an adrenaline rush after performing with Rachel and the band. When Josh pulled her farther backstage, away from the others, she was happy to follow. She didn't even think about Finn in that moment. It was all Josh-that blond hair, those blue eyes, that sexy smile.

"You were so great," she said, feeling kind of lame after the words escaped her.

"So were you," he smirked. "That performance was hot-like I think you left the audience in puddles."

"Just the audience?" Quinn boldly flirted, eyebrow raised.

"Oh hell no," Josh whispered as he leaned in quickly, his hand glancing her breast as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's all I could do to keep my hands off you, babe." His lips nipped at her neck and she automatically tilted to give him access. He continued, "It's like you're this little tease on stage for everyone, but god I love it when I've got you alone like this, baby. The things I want to do to you…" He moved one hand down her back and the other came back up her side-almost reaching... Yes, that was his hand, fondling her breast. In public.

Quinn stiffened. The combination of his words and his touch suddenly reminded her of Puck and that fateful night she went too far. Quinn pushed Josh back forcefully. And before she knew it, her hand was pulled back and released in the fiercest slap she'd ever delivered.

It felt...good...liberating. And painful. Wow, really painful.

Josh stood there, holding his cheek, looking stunned and hurt. Quinn glared at him. "I'm not that kind of girl!" she exclaimed and turned on her heel toward Rachel and the others.

"Way to lay the smack down, Fabray!" praised Puck. Quinn suddenly became aware that she was now blushing intensely.

Finn rushed to Quinn's side. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

Quinn smiled weakly. "Yes, I'm ok. No he didn't hurt me. I think I hurt him."

"Cool," Finn smiled. "That slap was pretty hot."

"Finn!" she shoved him, but it was playfully. "It did feel awfully good to smack somebody," she admitted. "Except for the stinging in my hand." Quinn didn't like not knowing what Finn's intentions were with his remark, but she decided to treat it like a flirty friendship.

Josh rushed over to her. "Quinn, hey, I'm really sorry," he started. "I _did_ have the wrong idea. I thought you were into me like that. And you're really beautiful; I let myself get carried away… I'm sorry I overstepped my bounds and upset you. We ok?"

Quinn looked at him skeptically, but he actually seemed sincere. He looked so sweet (and hot). She nodded. "Yes, we're ok. Thanks for apologizing. I may have over-reacted…"

She felt Finn put his arm around her shoulders. "Dude, you have to treat a girl with respect," he announced. As much as Quinn was pleased by the gesture, she was also intrigued by Josh. Josh seemed genuinely interested in a romantic relationship with her, while Finn was constantly bouncing back and forth between feelings for Quinn and feelings for Rachel.

"Finn, I appreciate your protectiveness," she said as she slid out from under his arm. "But Josh and I have gone on a few dates, and I'm interested in seeing where this leads. I'm glad you and I are friends. But I accept his apology, and I'm giving him a chance to make it up to me." She smiled shyly at Josh, who nodded gratefully.

Quinn followed as Josh led her away, guiding her by the small of her back. A small part of her was still happy that Finn seemed to be jealous, but mostly she was thinking about how hot Josh was. Quinn regretted the slap. It had been an over-the-top reaction. She still really, really liked Josh. And sure, Finn was being protective now, but that didn't mean he was into her and over Rachel. She was sure she had made the right choice.

As they headed out of the stage door, she thought she heard the sound of a light smack, like a hand to the forehead. Then she unmistakably heard Puck's laughter.

She had a vision of Finn smacking himself in the forehead and Puck laughing.

Quinn smiled to herself. Maybe her goal of winning Finn back wasn't so important anymore.

…

At school on Monday, Puck caught up with Quinn before first period to invite her to a Superbowl party.

She regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "Thanks for the invite, but I'm not really interested. I'll probably try to see Josh that day."

"So, you and Josh… You're really serious about that guy? He's a lot older than you; you should be careful," Puck warned.

Quinn laughed softly at his protectiveness. "Thanks for your concern, Puck. He's only three years and four months older than I am. And besides, I've only had one serious boyfriend in my life. I think it's time that I live a little. It doesn't have to be serious."

"_One_ serious boyfriend, huh? I guess you're referring to Finn. What does that make me?" Puck said, a little defensively.

"Oh, you're in a league of your own," Quinn responded with a laugh. She smiled, "You're my baby daddy." She thought her little quip would amuse him.

Puck grunted instead of returning her smile. "Whatever, Fabray. Just don't get yourself stuck in a stupid situation. You're not known for making the best life choices, you know?" He pointed to himself with both thumbs. "Prime example, this guy." And with that he stalked off down the hall.

"Puck! I didn't mean anything by it!" she called after him. He didn't turn around. She wasn't sure if he heard her or not. She couldn't believe she had hurt his feelings with her comment, but it was apparent that she had.

She was now making negative progress on her goal of being a better friend.

…

She tried to call, text, and email Puck, but he was ignoring her. She didn't know what else to do except let him get over it. He could really be sulky sometimes.

So she wasn't in the best mood when she got the bad news that Mr. Schue was forcing everyone to work at the Valentine's Dance. And she wasn't alone at being disappointed. Everyone groaned at his announcement.

Except for Rachel, who Quinn spotted beaming at Puck happily. Puck gave her a look that showed his level of enthusiasm, which resembled Quinn's own. She needed to get out of this so she could spend time with Josh that night instead.

Quinn raised her hand. "Mr. Schue, what if we already have plans for Valentine's Day that don't involve the school dance?"

Finn looked at Quinn, "What, are you going out with _Josh_ that night?" She nodded matter-of-factly. "He's too old for you," Finn whispered urgently.

Quinn ignored him. _Now_ Finn was interested? Now that she was finally starting to get over him?

"I'm sorry, Quinn," said Mr. Schue. "This is a group activity, and we need everyone to participate. You will need to do your best to reschedule your plans. The dance is on that Saturday. You have any other day to make your Valentine's Day plans."

Quinn nodded resignedly. She wasn't sure what excuse she'd tell Josh. It certainly wasn't going to be that she was required to attend a high school dance for her high school glee club.

…

Puck had been ignoring Quinn all week. Not that they normally talked, but she had been trying to talk to him to find out what was wrong. Finally, Rachel explained a few things about why Puck was so upset, for which Quinn was grateful—and sorry for hurting his feelings. So Rachel _may_ have arranged for Puck to meet her in the choir room and then left him alone in there with Quinn instead. That _may_ have been how Quinn finally got to talk to Puck to explain and apologize.

"Puck, honestly, I didn't put you in the 'boyfriend' category because I really do think of what we had as more than that. There was a time when I thought we might actually get _married_ and be happy together. But you and I didn't work. We tried it, and we know it. In order for me to deal with life and be normal, I had to move past that. I try not to think about that time in my life only because the thought of everything I did to hurt everyone I care about, including you; and the thought of Dizzy out there, it's just so hard… I'm sorry I ignored what we had and hurt you with what I said earlier."

"Ok," said Puck flatly.

"Ok?"

"Yeah. I just needed to know it did mean something to you too. I get why you'd try not to think about it or talk about it, though."

"Friends?" she asked cautiously.

"Friends," he affirmed with a smirk. He opened the choir room door. "Ok, Rach, we're all good," he called into the hallway. In moments, Rachel came charging in, deftly sweeping both Puck and Quinn into an awkward three-way hug.

"I knew you would be!" Rachel chirped. Puck and Quinn exchanged smirks, but those faded into true smiles at Rachel's enthusiasm. She really was something else. Quinn was kind of amazed.

…

That Friday, Mr. Schue announced a new song for Regionals that Finn had suggested: Weezer's "I Want You To". Finn kept trying to catch Quinn's eye. Quinn kept trying to avoid Finn's eye. She felt some kind of reverse déjà vu…if there was such a thing. She finally looked at him once the lines about 'so much pain may come our way' started. She tried to discern whether Finn intended this part of the song for her.

After rehearsal, Finn asked Quinn to talk with him. "I asked Mr. Schue if we could do that song because it's like, my message to you." He looked down at her in a way that was slightly shy and flirtatious at the same time.

Boy, Finn knows how to work a girl's heart, Quinn thought. "Which part, Finn? Did you mean the part about the relationship ending?"

"What? No! There's a part about relationships ending?"

Quinn found herself starting to smile—that was the Finn she knew. But at the same time she was upset by his actions. "So you're telling me now that I'm dating someone, you're interested in me? Romantically?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"You know, I didn't pull this when you tried to have something with Rachel. Or when you had your little fling with Santana!" she said pointedly. "I stood back and let you make your own choices. I have only expressed my interest in rekindling our romantic relationship when you were single and free to make a decision to try again with me. You're putting me in a very terrible position, Finn. No matter what I do, somebody gets hurt."

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I didn't think about it like that. I just, you know, wanted you to know how I feel. Just like the song. So, if you were wondering…the answer is, I want you to…you just have to tell me if you want me too." Finn looked at her with such vulnerability, like a lost puppy.

"I have plans with Josh this weekend. I need time to think about this, Finn," Quinn said, exasperated.

"Yeah, I get it. Think about it, and let me know," he gave a half-smile, and left Quinn alone with her thoughts.

Quinn found it strange yet oddly comforting that the first people she wanted to talk to were Rachel and Puck.

…

So, friendships going well. Romance, a mess.

Especially after Quinn told Josh after the band's show that she couldn't be there for his next show. Obviously she left out that it was because of the stupid high school Valentine's Dance—the one that she would have been thrilled about in an alternate universe. (That alternate universe which split from her current reality the moment she believed Puck when he said, "Trust me" about birth control and she gave in to her alcohol-induced lowered inhibitions.)

As they were packing up the equipment after the show, Rachel nudged Puck to remind him to tell Josh about next Saturday.

"Ok, we were a trio before, we can live without you for one show," Josh said. "But I'll still see _you_ there, right, Quinn?"

"Actually, I can't come next Saturday either. We all have another engagement," Quinn said apologetically.

Josh narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess, the _four_ of you are going out for Valentine's Day."

"What? No! Of course not!" protested Quinn. Even though technically they would all be together. She could tell Josh was talking about Finn and didn't bother to ask him to clarify. "What makes you think that?"

"It just seems like he's after you, Quinn," Josh shrugged. "Did you break up with him, leaving him heartbroken and trying to get you back?"

Quinn flushed with embarrassment. "Actually, we did date, but he's the one who broke up with me."

"Why in the world would _he_ break up with _you_?"

"Well," she started to get a little teary-eyed, but she wouldn't permit the tears to fall. "I did something terrible to him."

"What could you have possibly done?"

She swallowed hard and decided to be honest. "I had Puck's baby."

Josh's eyes widened. She knew his thoughts must be racing. He finally spoke. "Not that I'm not opened-minded, and I know we just started dating, but you're not seeing anyone else are you?"

Quinn smiled. "Only you." She leaned in to kiss him.

Josh pushed, "So you and Puckerman don't hook up sometimes, for old times' sake?"

"No!" Quinn crossed her arms indignantly. "Besides, Puck wouldn't cheat on Rachel."

"Huh, but you would cheat on me?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying! I just figured since I just told you I had cheated on my last boyfriend, and you and I are still getting to know each other, it would mean more if I pointed out how ridiculous the thought of me with Puck would be. Puck and I had our time together and it didn't work out, at all. And you've seen those two together." She gestured to Rachel and Puck who looked busy putting the guitars into their cases.

"I suppose that makes sense," Josh admitted. "So I guess you're saying that Puckerman wasn't with Rachel when you two hooked up."

Quinn nodded. "Right. Puck kinda had a crush on me back then, and we were both mad at Finn. At the time, Finn was showing interest in Rachel, even though he and I were dating. So we sorta got together out of anger at Finn. It was immature."

"Well, I can't pretend to understand that… Funny, in all this you're making Puckerman sound pretty innocent, romantic even, but he acts like he's a real ladies' man."

"Oh, he is! Or was. You should've seen what Puck was like before Rachel! He had sex with pretty much all the cheerleaders in high school, plus people's _moms_; really anything with a body and a pretty face!"

"With that haircut, he got that much play?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Hey, the Mohawk plays with the ladies!" interrupted Puck, who promptly received an elbow to the gut from Rachel for revealing they had been eavesdropping.

Josh ignored Puck for the moment. "And you said that the drummer was your last boyfriend?"

Quinn was startled; she felt like she'd been caught. But she recovered and responded quickly, "Yes. With all of the drama that had happened, I haven't been ready to be in a serious relationship since then." There, she didn't reveal how recent her break-up with Finn and her relationship with Puck really were.

"Yeah, sounds like your life's been kinda like a soap opera or something," mumbled Josh.

"You have no idea," said Quinn and the two eavesdroppers nearly simultaneously.

…

Quinn thought quietly about her 'soap opera life'. Did she really want to get that popularity and old life back as her #5 goal? Or did she want a new life and a new start this year?

…

**A.N. THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone** who voted for _**Junior Year**_** on the Glee LJ Awards**! I'm so honored to win **Third Place for Best Completed Fiction**! I'm surprised to have placed at all given the excellent stories in that category, and I'm very grateful to the support of my readers for your votes! It means so much to me! I've been a little down lately over dumb stuff and thinking about getting out of writing these stories after I finish this fic and do a quick summer story as I've promised to a few of you. But this news has lifted my spirits so much! Thanks again!


	7. Kurt Hummel to the Rescue

**A.N.** This chapter is from Kurt's perspective from the beginning of the completed story _Junior Year_ through the Dance Chapter 20. This one is for **LizzayMartini**, who specifically wanted to see Kurt's perspective for the Valentine's Dance.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar. And there's a line some might recognize as something I said to **fresch** on Twitter ;)

…

Kurt Hummel was having an interesting junior year. It all started over the summer, really, when he and Rachel Berry had both gone to show choir camp. They hadn't gone _together_, they just happened to both take singing seriously. But during that summer, not only had he managed the first unthinkable act of befriending Rachel Berry for real, he actually had grown to like her. Really.

It started because the two of them didn't know anyone else at the camp, so they automatically gravitated toward each other. During their free time, Kurt would give her fashion advice and they'd shop in the stores they knew were frequented by college students on the OSU campus where the camp was held. Rachel had money to spend and each time she bought an outfit Kurt advised her to get, she'd pick up a little something for him too. New sunglasses, a fabulous fedora he couldn't wait until fall to wear, things like that. She wasn't buying his friendship, but maybe that helped Kurt's heart warm to the girl. Getting new items for his wardrobe is always enjoyable and that joy may have become associated with spending time with Rachel.

It turned out that once he was around other show choir kids who were all obsessed with music, Rachel Berry's brand of crazy seemed endearing. Because some of the others were CRAZY. And somehow the two of them had been singled out as among the most talented in their camp group—and in show choir camp that meant they were _popular_. While Kurt had a taste of popularity at McKinley High, he knew Rachel had never had the experience. It was kind of an interesting social experiment to observe her in that new environment, away from all of the things that had stood in the way of Kurt actually seeing Rachel as a friend instead of a frenemy.

One of those things being Finn Hudson.

Kurt couldn't help feeling some jealousy towards Rachel throughout sophomore year. Not only was she the girl his crush Finn wanted to pursue, she was also the natural talent who made sense singing solos for competitions—at least in Mr. Schue's eyes. So she was his rival in many ways. But Kurt had managed to get his voice heard in glee club—and somehow Rachel took a backseat on occasion. Kurt started to feel some jealousy toward Finn as well—especially the way things seemed so easy for Finn even when they were hard. It's kinda difficult to like someone as a boyfriend when you're jealous of him.

Oh, and there's the fact that Finn's not gay. Details.

But Kurt had also managed the second unimaginable act: developing a crush that had actually been reciprocated. He met Alex at camp, and at first he'd been concerned that Alex was interested in Rachel because of the way Alex latched on to the two of them and asked to practice together, go out for coffee, basically spending most of their free moments together. But to Kurt's surprise, the dark-haired beautiful boy was interested in _him_! They kept in touch online after the camp ended. It was really romantic—the most romance Kurt had ever known. And while he had grown to like Rachel over the summer, he still felt like he wasn't ready to share everything with her. So he kept that gem to himself. But on the first day of school she noticed his new physique—he had started working out to impress Alex—so he told her the truth. It was so liberating to have someone to talk to about his crush. When he'd been crushing on Finn, Rachel was the last person he would have talked to about it. So he wasn't expecting that it would be so fun to talk to her about any crush. But it really was. Who knew Rachel Berry could actually listen to someone?

And for awhile, Kurt had been so wrapped up in his new near-boyfriend (who lived hours away so they never saw each other now that camp was over) and getting back in with Mercedes and his other girls, that he missed some of the signs that Rachel had a crush of her own that she was hiding.

But he started clueing in on a few interesting occurrences.

First, he was glad that Rachel was mostly incorporating her new outfits into her school wardrobe, and Kurt noticed that other people noticed the change. Although Rachel herself didn't seem to recognize that she turned a few more heads. Kurt actually felt good for helping her, even if she didn't realize it. She was like his pet project. That's probably not the best way to think of a friend, but when it came to Rachel, thinking of her as a friend was very new, and Kurt found it easy to slip in and out of friend mode once back at school.

So Kurt wasn't paying keen attention to Rachel those first few weeks of school. He thought it was strange that she wanted to give up singing solos with Finn to form an all-girls singing group with Quinn. (WTF?) He also noticed that she wasn't excited about Mr. Schue's announcement of the new members of New Directions, and she seemed strangely bothered by the attention Matt and Puck were giving the new girls. Kurt huffed internally, thinking that Rachel always wanted to be the center of attention. Plus she'd always had some weird thing with Finn _and_ Puck, so maybe she was somehow jealous that Puck was looking at the new girls. Kurt had to admit that the ladies were both quite attractive. He was an equal-opportunity connoisseur of beauty. He had grown to appreciate Rachel's brand of beauty too—even if she wasn't classically beautiful. He thought he'd helped her appreciate that about herself too over the summer, but looking back, maybe all he had done was judge her harshly for her old wardrobe rather than compliment her natural beauty.

Unfortunately for Rachel, Kurt never got around to making sure her self-esteem was at a healthy level. He had many commitments and Rachel seemed fine—also quite busy herself. In fact, she was surprisingly absent instead of clinging to him like he half-expected she would after the summer.

During the second week of school, Kurt noticed how uncomfortable Finn was singing duets with Quinn—assigned by the clueless Mr. Schue. He also noticed how decidedly comfortable Puck and Rachel were singing their duet from "Times Like These". And Finn always had a way of tugging at Kurt's heartstrings, so he thought quickly of a way to divert attention from Finn's discomfort. Kurt honed in on the other unusual pairing: Puck and Rachel.

"My, my! Either Puck suddenly became an actor to rival your talent, Rachel, or there's something going on here." Everyone turned to face Puck and Rachel, and they too noticed the wide smiles that had suddenly vanished from the faces of the accused.

"Are you questioning my performance ability?" Puck asked.

"Yes!" was the answer from all of the original glee members, excluding Rachel.

"Ok, say there was something going on; with this great acting ability I have wouldn't I be hiding it? It's not Finn you're talking to here. It's Puck. I don't make googley eyes at Rachel in front of everyone unless there's a reason."

"Hey!" interjected Rachel and Finn nearly simultaneously. "We only made so-called googley eyes for the sake of performance too!" said Rachel indignantly.

"Whatever, Berry," Puck smirked.

Rachel huffed to her seat and turned back to glare at him. But Kurt saw Puck give her a wink. And moments later, he witnessed Rachel blush.

Finn desperately asked, "Mr. Schue, are we done for the day?"

"Yes, Finn," Mr. Schuester nodded and waved his hand to confirm that everyone was dismissed. "Nice job, everyone. We will work on this next time."

Kurt was pleased at first that he had diverted the attention from Finn and Quinn, but he was displeased that Puck had managed to turn the focus back to Finn, albeit in a different form. Kurt almost wished he had kept his mouth shut since the end result still seemed to hurt Finn.

Kurt was (mostly) over his crush on Finn. But he still thought of Finn as a friend who might need some advice or help every now and then, especially in the aftermath of Baby-gate. And now, Kurt was very curious about what was going on with Puck and Rachel. He had only brought attention to them because there _was_ something unusual about how they were looking at each other, but he didn't think it really meant anything. Now, there might be a piece of gossip buried somewhere, but Kurt decided that he would keep tabs on this situation rather than launch a full-fledged investigation. He thought he could easily just ask her if she wanted to chat sometime, just the two of them. He knew she wouldn't be comfortable saying much around too many people—if there really was something to tell. But whenever he asked, she said she had plans after school. Kurt wasn't sure if she'd always been this way since he'd never made an effort to spend time with her after school before. So he fell back into the habit of never asking her to do anything.

He also decided that he would let his gossip radar pick up any new interesting details in the future. Then he basically forgot about the whole thing until November, when he witnessed another odd encounter that spent a few moments in his mind before he filed it away.

…

Kurt had entered the choir room to find Puck leering at Rachel like she was a tasty morsel and Rachel snapping her fingers in his face with a fire in eyes. She looked on the war-path. He looked on the prowl. Funny, he thought Puck already dipped his pen in that well and had moved on the way he normally does. Then again, Puck was probably an equal-opportunity pussy hound.

Kurt's face soured at the vulgarity of his own thought.

That's when Rachel exclaimed, "Noah Puckerman! Are you even listening to me?"

Kurt wasn't intrigued by Rachel's words, but more so by the looks the two were giving each other. "And just what are we interrupting here?" Kurt said with a wide smile—because this could be a glimpse of some delicious gossip. Kurt lightly elbowed Mercedes, who was standing next to him. She raised her eyebrows at the sight. Artie and Tina were on their way in too.

Puck didn't say anything. He took a step back from Rachel, and then he just turned away and slouched into a seat in the back row. Kurt looked at Rachel expectantly for a response.

And she began, "I am sorry that we got so caught up in our argument. It's very unbecoming and unprofessional, and I very much regret it."

"I asked _what_ we interrupted," Kurt said pointedly.

Rachel shifted uncomfortably, and then responded in that proper voice she used _all the time_ with him before they had become friends. "As you can see, Puck and I had been having a heated argument." Then Rachel spoke slowly, like she was explaining something obvious, "_An argument_ is what you interrupted, Kurt."

Kurt gave her a look to show he was not satisfied with her answer. "An argument about…?"

"Really, I think the reasons all started at the beginning of the school year…" Rachel's voice started to trail off.

That's when Puck said, "Oh, shut up, Berry. Kurt, mind your own business. Don't make a big deal out of nothing. The resident diva was just having one of her usual tantrums."

Everyone who had been observing this exchange nodded knowingly, except for Rachel, who looked at Puck indignantly. He smirked back at her. Mr. Schuester arrived to start rehearsals, and for the rest of the day, Kurt didn't think twice about the odd encounter between Puck and Rachel.

…

It wasn't until after a second strange occurrence in November that Kurt launched his investigation. The glee club was at Rachel's house after Thanksgiving for her little social endeavor. Finn and Rachel were all smiles at each other, so it seemed that everything was normal (even though _normal _was rather _ick_). No, Kurt reminded himself that he had Alex, even though it was long distance. He didn't have to be jealous of Finn's arm guiding Rachel. He _didn't_. He _wasn't_.

Gradually, the guests started filtering out, and only Finn and Kurt were left with Rachel and her dads watching _Rent_. Kurt was kind of hoping to get to talk to Rachel alone since strangely enough, he actually missed the friendship they'd had over the summer a little. A little.

He was startled to hear a knock on Rachel's door, followed by the door opening before anyone got up to answer it.

First, Kurt thought about how rude that was. Then he wondered why the person didn't use the doorbell. Then, he was shocked by Rachel's overly enthusiastic reaction to Puck walking through that door.

"You're back!" Rachel jumped up to greet him, but stopped short. Kurt's jaw dropped. She looked like she was about to _kiss_ him!

Puck scanned the room uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. Glad to see some of the gang's still here." He nodded to acknowledge Kurt and Finn. But Kurt would say he didn't actually look happy to see them there. "Uh, I was wondering if you had any more of that great food left, Berry."

"Yes, of course, follow me." Rachel chirped.

Finn and Kurt glanced curiously towards the kitchen. As Finn turned back to the movie, he caught Kurt's interested look in the direction of the kitchen too. They shared a silent look that said, "something weird might be going on here".

Rachel returned and set up a tv tray in front of a chair for Puck and turned on a table lamp. Puck wasted no time shoveling food into his mouth, which Kurt found slightly appalling. And slightly fascinating.

Rachel casually sat down in the chair next to Puck rather than returning to her seat between Finn and Kurt.

Interesting.

Finn glanced her way, but Kurt spoke up, eager to see how Rachel would react to his request. "Rachel, come back to your seat with me. Your shoulder makes a good headrest."

"Um, thanks? Sure, Kurt, I'll sit with you."

Finn didn't move to make more room for Rachel on the couch, so she was squished between Finn and Kurt. There was no way she could sit without touching them both. She blushed so fiercely that he could feel the heat rolling off of her.

Kurt figured out that Rachel wanted to sit next to Puck instead of Finn, though he wasn't sure why since Finn was supposed to be her dream guy. Kurt glanced at Finn, who looked too happy—meaning he hadn't come to the same realization that Kurt had about Rachel.

They all sat watching the final scenes of the movie.

Once Kurt thought about it, he realized that Rachel hadn't really been fawning over Finn all day. Except for that lame re-entrance to the dining room arm-in-arm, Kurt couldn't recall Rachel paying extra attention to Finn. If anything, Finn had been fawning over her. Kurt involuntarily rolled his eyes at his own recollections. But Rachel hadn't paid much attention to Puck when he was there earlier in the day. Kurt wasn't sure if Rachel liked Puck or if she was just uncomfortable around Finn in front of Puck for some reason.

The moment the credits started to roll, Rachel popped up from her spot between the two boys. "Well, now that the movie is over, we should probably call it a night!" said Rachel brightly. Kurt stood up, but Finn just grabbed a throw pillow and seemed to make himself more comfortable on the couch. Kurt suppressed an unseemly chuckle at the sight.

"Well, Puck's still eating, so I figured we'd just stay until he's finished," announced Finn. "If that's ok…" he added.

Puck looked up from his plate of food with interest. There was a pause as Rachel glanced toward Puck, then to her dads, and then back to Finn.

"We'll kick Noah out after he finishes eating our food," said Mr. Berry.

Puck actually reddened a little in embarrassment, which was something Kurt was not used to seeing. He almost giggled. But instead, he straightened his posture and said, "Of course. Thank you for your hospitality." He nudged Finn.

"…Yeah, thanks a lot," said Finn. "Goodnight, Rachel."

"Goodnight, Finn, Kurt. It was lovely to have you over. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I'll see you Monday." And with that, Rachel closed the door.

Since he had been (politely) kicked out, Kurt immediately headed toward his car, leaving Finn gawking at the Berrys' front door.

"Kurt, wait up!" Finn called as he jogged across the street to where Kurt was getting into his Navigator.

"Yes, Finn?" Kurt turned.

"You had a look on your face earlier…like you knew something…Do you think there's something going on with Rachel?"

Kurt quickly decided that he's not ready to spill this dish to Finn until he has confirmation. He knew that the knowledge of suspicious activity between Puck and Rachel would probably cause Finn to break down a little, and as much as he had always wanted Finn to cry into his shoulder pads, he didn't want to hurt him over nothing. He had to accumulate more evidence against Puck and Rachel.

He looks so innocent and naïve, thought Kurt, but he is surprisingly perceptive, so he wanted to be as honest as he could. "Yes, I too sense that there may be something going on with Rachel. But I'm going to investigate further before I jump to conclusions. Rest assured, when I figure out what's going on with our little Miss Berry, you will be the first to know."

"Thanks, Kurt."

"Any time, Finn."

Kurt reminded himself that this just meant that Finn still liked Rachel. It did not mean that Finn was interested in him. Besides, he had Alex. And Alex was so handsome—and gay! The only problem with Alex was that he wasn't in Lima. So Kurt steered his mind away from the fluttering feeling he had in his stomach when Finn talked to him like that. He focused on his plan to investigate Rachel and Puck.

…

Once back at school from Thanksgiving break, Kurt was on track to break the case. From his vantage point singing backup during the duets, Kurt could detect the sparks between Rachel and Puck. While Rachel was her usual sappy self when singing with Finn, she seemed positively drawn to Puck. Sure, there was a strange dynamic in the whole glee club after Baby-gate, but it seemed clear that Rachel was no longer crushing on the oh-so-crushworthy Finn. Might she have a thing for the broody and brawny Puck? Kurt hadn't forgotten his pledge to Finn to check out the situation, but he had gotten distracted over the weekend. His crush from show choir camp was becoming more than a crush since there was actual correspondence involved, so he'd spent the weekend chatting online with the boy he hoped would be his first boyfriend. Besides, it was the first day back to school, so it was really Kurt's first opportunity to check out the Rachel-Puck vibes.

And boy, were there vibes! Kurt decided he _would_ go all Veronica Mars and investigate further before reporting his suspicions to Mercedes and Tina and deciding what to tell Finn. He _had_ told Finn that he would be the first to know if there was something going on with Rachel. But upon reflection, Kurt couldn't decide if Finn finding out that Rachel liked Puck would result in a miniature disaster or a minor catastrophe.

…

Moving forward with his plan, Kurt was in full investigation mode and well prepared. _Veronica Mars_ marathon, check. Spy pen with mini camera inspired by said marathon, check. Fabulous fedora hat and trench coat to put him in the detective mood, check and check. Kurt was already known for daring fashion choices, and it was winter, so his attire didn't raise many eyebrows. Step 1 on Kurt's list was to talk to Rachel directly. It was the easiest place to start. She might actually tell him something since they were pretty good friends. And if she was evasive, he'd pick up on that too. No matter what happened, he'd gain information.

It was strange, Kurt only just realized that Rachel hadn't been as clingy as he thought she would be after show choir camp. They had been practically connected at the hip over the summer. Kurt had other friends at school, but he knew Rachel didn't have many (any). He wondered why he didn't notice before that she seemed to have a completely full schedule and never even tried to invite herself to hang out with him and the gang. Kurt felt a little guilty for not noticing and not inviting her. He figured that it was so similar to her behavior at school last year that he had overlooked it. But one thing he _had_ noticed that was different from last year was that Rachel didn't seem to hang all over Finn anymore. A realization dawned on Kurt. Kurt had been slowly moving on from his crush on Finn so that now he mostly felt a sense of friendship. He wanted to focus on an attainable goal (Alex from show choir camp). Perhaps that's exactly what is going on with Rachel! So Kurt decided that after he completed Step 1, Step 2 would be to investigate whether Noah Puckerman was an "attainable goal" for Rachel Berry.

Rachel was evasive when Kurt cornered her after glee rehearsal. Definitely suspicious. But his spying (no, _investigating_) outside her house was inconclusive. Puck did show up, but Kurt couldn't see any romantic action in the dark from his vantage point. Still, all signs pointed to the idea that Rachel might consider Noah Puckerman _attainable_.

But after his stake-out, he had the opportunity to assess Puck's feelings on the subject, and the results were unexpected.

Kurt caught up with Puck in the hallway the next day and tapped on his shoulder. Puck whirled around to face him. "What?" he said sharply, almost shouting.

"Whoa, cool your jets, Puck!" said Kurt. "Where are you stalking off to with such purpose?"

"Mind your own business."

"On your way to ask Miss Berry to the dance?" There, Kurt had posed a question for Step 2. He needed to detect if Puck could possibly have romantic feelings for Rachel.

"Hell no. In fact, I'm on my way to ask Quinn." Puck rushed off, leaving Kurt gaping after him. How could Kurt have been so wrong? Puck just seemed furious at the idea that he would ask Rachel out—which is actually what Kurt would have expected had he not seen Puck at Rachel's house last night. That was the only piece of the puzzle that didn't fit. Kurt reviewed his observations mentally. Rachel and Puck had _major_ vibes during their duets lately. Rachel seemed inordinately happy to see Puck at her glee party and overly determined to kick Kurt and Finn out of her house. _Finn_! These all support the theory that Rachel may like Puck instead of Finn. But Puck's behavior just now did not support the theory that he liked Rachel in return.

Kurt decided to tell Finn that he had nothing to worry about. If Puck didn't have a thing for Rachel, then it didn't matter. Finn wouldn't have a competitor (because it was still Rachel Berry he's talking about here). So Finn could try to woo her to his heart's content, and he'd probably be victorious once Rachel came to her senses. Kurt was pleased with himself for his deductive skills.

So Kurt didn't continue his investigation after that. He just got himself in the mood to enjoy the Winter Dance. He had to select the perfect attire for the occasion.

…

Kurt and Mercedes walked into the dance arm in arm, followed closely by Tina and Artie. Even though he'd rather have come with Alex for romantic purposes, Kurt was a little nervous about such a big move in Lima. Maybe for Prom… But Mercedes was his girl for gossip, and Kurt couldn't keep from spilling everything about his investigations of Puck and Rachel, beginning with the day after Thanksgiving and finishing with his evening getting ready for the dance at Rachel's. It seemed fair to talk about it now since he'd already given Finn his assessment. He'd promised Finn would be the _first_ to know, not the _only_ to know. And now there might be more to assess at the dance, so the gleeks could entertain themselves while making speculations, assumptions, and bets on the truth of the situation.

"Who's in for it's one-sided from Rachel and Puck's not interested?"

"Who's in for two-sided? And let's raise the stakes—who thinks they're having sex?"

Of course, they never actually bet on the sex part because Tina protested that it was _wrong_ and Artie suggested (in his practical way) that it would be hard to prove one way or the other. But at least the fact that it was two-side was confirmed that night at the Winter Dance.

…

Like it or not, Kurt became invested in Rachel's relationship with Puck. And truth be told, he liked it. First, it was fun to have a little drama and romance in his life, even if it was vicarious. Second, Rachel was his friend to some extent, so he felt a strange feeling, like he should want the best for her or something. And it didn't hurt that Noah Puckerman was easy on the eyes.

They were way too disgustingly cute together in glee on a regular basis once their relationship was 'outed' after the Winter Dance. And when Puck stayed with Rachel at Kurt's on New Year's Eve night—after he and Rachel did the deed for the first time, well, it was vomit-inducing but it was also super-heartwarming. It gave Puck a lot of points in Kurt's eyes.

So when Puck and Rachel had their fight, Kurt was the first to try to help them get back together—even trying to persuade Rachel that Finn might not have her best interests at heart when he suggested that she try to just be friends with Puck instead of something more. He gave her a fabulous pitch and eventually won her over with his compelling arguments—like the one comparing Puck and Rachel to Logan and Veronica with their epic relationship. He didn't have a character for which to compare Finn with that metaphor…though maybe Finn could be like Piz, but that didn't quite work….

It didn't matter. The point was, Kurt helped Rachel and Puck get back together before the Valentine's Dance.

And then, Rachel was the first person Kurt called when he found out that Alex was moving to Lima and would be attending McKinley. If this had happened last year, it would have been Mercedes he speed-dialed. But something compelled Kurt to call Rachel first. Maybe it was because she had two gay dads, so she was one of the only other people he knew who would have some idea about what he was going through. Maybe it was because Rachel was really smart and unexpectedly good at listening. Whatever it was, Kurt felt better after talking to Rachel about his fears and excitement about Alex. It felt really nice to get her calm advice, to hear her encourage him, and share in his good fortune. Surprising, perhaps. But nice.

When Rachel tearfully told him about the heinous dinner from hell that she and Puck experienced with her dads and how Valentine's Day was ruined, Kurt was fairly shocked. He suppressed the urge to laugh at the thought of Puck swearing at the Fathers Berry when asked if the two were sexually active. And he couldn't help but let out a mortified gasp when Rachel told him how she had responded in the affirmative to the question and then how in bragging about how wonderful her man was, she let it spill that he was the father of Quinn's baby. Which she described as so upsetting, it caused everyone at the table to drop their forks. It sounded like it had been the most hilarious and horrendous dinner on Earth. Kurt knew Rachel was a drama queen, but then Puck confirmed that everything she had described was spot on.

Her dads had agreed to let her participate in the Valentine's Dance after Rachel brought home a note from Mr. Schuester explaining the glee club's involvement with set up and running the dance as a club fundraiser. From what Kurt knew about the Fathers Berry, he wasn't surprised when Rachel gave Mr. Schue a cell phone number in order to contact her dads directly.

So Rachel was still allowed to attend, but she just thought it would be better if her scandalous date did not pick her up at her house. Of course, Kurt offered his home to be the site where Puck could pick up Rachel for the dance so that he didn't have to encounter the patriarchs any time soon.

The whole thing was very innocent, honestly. But Saturday afternoon when all of the glee clubbers were at school to decorate the gym for the dance, Kurt learned that Rachel had an evil plan. It was rather ingenious, really. And Kurt was proud to be asked to help.

But first there were preparations—not just of the gym, who cares about that? (Besides Rachel and Miss Pillsbury.) Preparations with attire, hair, and makeup (for the girls) were on Kurt's mind. It was his first school dance with a real date. Alex was going to pick him up and whisk him away in a few short hours. There was a lot to do!

He helped Rachel get ready in her well-chosen short red satin dress and high heels by picking the best shade of red lipstick and setting her hair in rollers. She helped him breathe more easily about his impending date. They were just going over the plan one more time when they heard the doorbell ring. They looked at each other with excitement in their eyes.

"It's going to be one of them. Mine or yours," Kurt breathed. "Show time!"

As they walked up the stairs from Kurt's basement bedroom, they heard Kurt's dad answer the door.

"You're not Alex."

"No, sir," Puck said.

"You're in the glee club too. You must be here for Rachel."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Hummel stepped aside to let Puck in the doorway.

Kurt (lightly) pushed Rachel to make her entrance into the living room.

"Lookin' good, Berry," Puck choked out. Kurt rolled his eyes at the remark from his spot behind Rachel.

"Thank you, Noah," she said demurely. "You look quite dashing."

That seemed to jar Puck from his stupor. He kissed her on the cheek and he whispered in her ear (loud enough for Kurt to hear), "Seriously, you look beautiful, Rachel." She looked up and smiled at him so brightly, even Kurt thought she looked breath-taking.

"Here," he held out the wrist corsage with a small red rose with purple baby's breath accents.

"It's perfect!" she chirped.

"Of course it is; you picked it," he smirked.

"That's true," she agreed. "I'm just so pleased. We're going to make the best of this night." Then she turned away from Puck briefly. "We'll see you there, Kurt! Thanks Mr. Hummel!" called Rachel, as they headed out to Puck's truck. Kurt waved. Then he paced the room as he waited for Alex to arrive. (No way was he risking wrinkles in his suit by sitting.)

He heard his dad clear his throat. "So, Kurt, you and Alex…are um…dating now?"

Kurt stopped pacing to face his dad. "Yes, Dad, we are. Alex is my boyfriend. I hope you're ok with that."

His Dad looked uncomfortable for one fleeting moment before he exhaled a deep breath. "It still takes a little getting used to…but I support you, Kurt. I support you completely."

Kurt smiled, "Thanks, Dad!" He wrapped his arms around his father before he thought about the damage he might do to his precious slate gray suit and the pink rose pinned to his lapel. "Oh, I think we're crushing my boutonniere!"

"Oh, sorry," his dad said sheepishly as he released him from the hug. Kurt inspected the delicate rose and it appeared to be in satisfactory condition.

"Everything's intact," Kurt announced.

His dad mumbled something under his breath.

"What's that, Dad?"

"I was just thinking that this Alex kid better be a decent guy and treat you right or he's not going to stay intact," he huffed protectively.

"Oh, Dad," Kurt said affectionately. What was he going to do with that big lug?

…

Introducing Alex to his father wasn't too traumatic. It helped that Mercedes and Alex's little brother Eric were there too. They all rode together in Alex's car, and really it was less pressure going to the dance as a foursome. But Kurt wondered when would be the next time he and Alex would get to be alone.

They were able to enjoy the dance right away because they weren't scheduled to take the tickets during the first shift. It was a little strange that Rachel and Puck had taken over Tina and Artie's ticket-taking shift. Strange only because Finn and Quinn were on the first shift too, so it seemed like that would be awkward. Kurt saw Quinn whispering away to Rachel, so he supposed it wasn't so awkward after all—except maybe to the boys sitting in silence next to them

…

Kurt had a wonderful time dancing with Alex, and surprisingly didn't feel awkward at all. He thought his friends all looked like they were having a good time. His eyes swept the dance floor: Artie and Tina, Mercedes and Eric, not to mention Finn dancing with Quinn and Rachel with Puck. Kurt smiled. The night was a dream. No jocks hassled him, no bad drama—only good drama, like wondering whether kissing on the dance floor was appropriate. Kurt decided he'd wait to move forward on that when he and Alex were together in private. Something else could occupy his thoughts in the meantime—his deal with Rachel. There was still about a half an hour left for the dance but couples here and there were departing, leaving a few scattered tables abandoned. Kurt approached Mr. Schue to ask if some of the clean up could begin early.

"I think we could begin clearing some of the deserted tables so we could finish up a little early. Some people have church in the morning and things."

Mr. Schue raised his eyebrow at Kurt.

"What? Are you saying I don't go to church?"

"No, of course not, Kurt."

"Ok then. Can I have the key to the supply closet so a few of us can start subtly returning the decorations while you chaperone?"

"Sure, Kurt. That's a good idea."

"Thanks, Mr. Schuester." Kurt hurried off to gather up a few items and drop them into the supply closet. Then he dropped the key off in Rachel's waiting hand with a gleam in his eye. She beamed at him and mouthed 'thank you'.

"What was that about?" asked Puck at the exchange.

"Kurt got the key to the supply closet to start cleaning up early, and he just gave it to me," she grinned.

"Ok? Good for you?"

Kurt smirked at Puck's dim-witted response. He was really in for a surprise. Kurt made his way back to Alex because he didn't want to think too hard about what he was just accomplice to—but he knew Puck would be slapping himself for not understanding the potential of having the key to the supply closet.

Idiot.

That boy was lucky he was so damn hot. The hotness factor makes people more tolerant of the mentally deficient and emotionally stunted.

…

So Kurt didn't think about what he and Alex could have been doing in that supply closet. He let Rachel and Puck do their thing since they were both in the doghouse with the Fathers Berry. Besides, Kurt was still a little nervous about some things…

But as he and Alex finished up their last dance, he overheard Mr. Schue on his cell phone, and he caught on quickly that it was one of Rachel's dads calling. He saw Mr. Schue looking around the gym frantically. Then he overheard Mr. Schue say, "Excuse me, sir, I can't seem to find her at the moment, but some of the students started cleaning up a bit early."

Kurt realized he probably should run interference. "Alex, I have to attend to a minor situation. Will you please excuse me?"

"Of course," said Alex calmly. "You'll fill me in later?"

"Promise," Kurt assured him.

Mr. Schue had turned extremely pale (not a good look for him). "I will search and call you back right away, sir," he gulped into the phone.

Kurt watched Mr. Schue head out to the hallway, presumably to the storage closet. But Kurt knew that would be locked with the key safely inside with Rachel. And if they were too stupid or caught up in the moment to lock the closet, well, that was their fault. Nothing Kurt could do about that. So he didn't go out in the hallway to attract attention, but he busied himself at a table so that when Mr. Schue came back into the gym looking for him (as he inevitably would remember giving him the key), Kurt would be ready.

Right on time, Mr. Schue came running into the gym, shouting, "Kurt! I need the key to the supply closet. Have you seen Rachel and Puck?"

Kurt made a show of dropping the paper table cloth as if he were shocked. Then he looked up at Mr. Schue with great reluctance. "Well," Kurt said hesitantly, "did you try the parking lot? Do you know which one is Puck's truck?"

Mr. Schue nodded at Kurt, eyes wide with terror, and swallowed hard. It was quite comical, and Kurt bit the insides of his cheeks to contain his laughter at the sight. He let his grin break through after Mr. Schue turned away to race down the hall.

Kurt was proud of his act and how he had misdirected Mr. Schue, who had forgotten about confiscating the keys to the storage closet (which were now in Rachel's possession anyway). It was a performance Miss Berry would have complimented. Heck, Ms. Barbara Streisand herself would have been proud.

But Kurt had one more task to complete. Mr. Schue was onto them, so he was obliged to deliver a warning. Because who knows how long those two could be in there. Kurt groaned and his stomach turned a little. He did _not_ want to think about it. So he marched up to the storage closet, knocked once on the door, and then said, "Ok, I bought you about five minutes, but you better finish up in there and come out looking and smelling fresh and innocent."

And that's just what they did.

Well, maybe they were a little worse for wear.

But Kurt was pleased that Rachel's dress did not appear disheveled. She must have taken his advice on hanging it up purposefully before she and Puck got started. Kurt shook his head, smiling to himself.

"So what was all this about?" asked Alex with a grin playing on his handsome face.

Kurt couldn't help it. He'd just put forth all this effort so that Rachel could have illicit sex on school grounds with her man. At least he could get a little action too. So Kurt closed his eyes, leaned in, and he pressed a gentle kiss to Alex's lips. He opened his eyes to see Alex smiling with his blue eyes wide in surprise.

Kurt spoke in a breathy rush, "This has been the best year of high school yet. I can't wait to tell you about my little mission tonight, but I can't tell you just yet." He nodded subtly toward Mr. Schue.

"I see," said Alex conspiratorially. "Perhaps we should get together for Sunday brunch?"

"Perfect!"

…

Kurt had to say (and he thought Rachel would agree) that Valentine's Day this year turned out pretty well. It was definitely his best ever.

…


	8. It's a Group Thing

**A.N.** This chapter includes perspectives of Brittany, Santana, and Mercedes ranging from Chapters 19 through 21 of the completed story _Junior Year_. I wasn't originally planning to write for these characters, but **LizzayMartini** mentioned Brittany in her last review, and this is what happened. Thanks, L!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

"Excuse me, Brittany," said Rachel politely as she slid past her on the way out of the choir room. "I have to rush to my dance lesson," she explained quickly over her shoulder.

Brittany watched her flounce away. A while ago, she had decided that Rachel was actually pretty nice…well, when she wasn't getting all crazy about singing. And when she was crazy like that about singing, it kinda reminded Brittany of the way Santana was bossy all of the time. It's like Brittany liked it, but she didn't like it too.

Feelings are complicated.

Sometimes, Brittany just needed someone to be bossy with her. Anyway, Rachel reminded her a little of Santana, so Brittany liked Rachel.

But Santana hated Rachel Berry. Really hated her. Brittany thought it had something to do with the way Puck and Rachel acted together, but she couldn't be sure. They were like, this super-sweet couple nobody would have expected. Kinda like how Santana and Puck were when they were together, but different. It was complicated.

Wait, why was Brittany thinking about Rachel? Oh, right. Brittany caught another glimpse of Rachel as she turned the corner. Despite looking Israeli, as Santana called it, that girl was pretty hot. Nice legs, Brittany mused. Some girls, not Brittany, but some girls would be jealous of those legs.

Brittany stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway and blinked furiously as thoughts rushed through her head. That's how Brittany's brain stumbled upon Santana's problem with Rachel.

Santana was jealous.

But what exactly was she jealous of? Brittany tried to figure it out. By this time, she was still standing in the hallway after everyone else had gone home, or to their sports practices, or to whatever else kids did after school. Brittany's brain registered this information, but decided that the train of thought was too important to interrupt by continuing to her destination to the locker room.

Brittany decided Santana was not jealous of Rachel's legs because Santana had nice legs too. Great legs in fact. Brittany was always admiring them and telling San how lovely they were. Because they really were. Brittany smiled to herself.

While thinking about Santana, her brainstem started on autopilot and began walking her to the locker room—toward Santana.

So the jealousy wasn't about Rachel's legs. So it was…was…

As Brittany approached the locker room, she almost ran directly into one of the basketball players.

"Puck!" Brittany shouted, pleased that she had realized the cause of Santana's jealousy.

"No, Brittany. It's me, Finn," said the tall basketball player, pointing to himself.

She looked up at him. "Uh, yeah. I know." Then she rolled her eyes at him as she entered the locker room. Poor Finn. Sometimes he was really dumb.

But Brittany's brain was struggling to remember her last thought. Puck. Santana. Jealous. Those words repeated in her mind as she went through the motions of changing for Cheerios practice.

It must be something about how cute and coupley Puck and Rachel are together. Puck sang songs for Rachel, but he never did for Santana…Brittany thought she was on the right track. But wait, Santana broke up with Puck a long time ago, so maybe she was wrong. Still, for some reason, Santana seemed to want to break up Puck and Rachel, even though Santana had Matt. And for that matter, Santana had her. Why weren't the two of them enough?

Well, Brittany knew why she wasn't enough for Santana. She sighed as she put her gym bag inside her locker. There were a few reasons. The first was that Santana said sometimes a girl just needs dick. Brittany nodded to herself in agreement. They had watched some movie together that had talked about that. It was true. Maybe it didn't have to be attached to a guy, but it was just something that girls needed sometimes. Brittany didn't really question that. It was a fact of life. That's why it was ok that Santana sometimes was with Matt and Brittany sometimes was with Mike. Or that they were sometimes with some other guys who had that body part.

So the other reason why Brittany wasn't enough for Santana was because she was a girl. And no, that's not the same as the first reason about needing dick. It's different. It's about the social status and stuff. It's just not a good status symbol in Lima to be gay. Being bi was a little better than being gay, but not really around adults. The high school boys really thought it was great, but Brittany couldn't be Santana's girlfriend around the Lopez house. Or casa. Or gato. Or whatever.

Brittany noticed Santana standing next to her, hands on her hips.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" Santana asked sharply.

"Nothing," Brittany said blankly. "What's wrong with you?" she asked innocently.

Santana rolled her eyes. "Nothing. Except that you're late!" she barked. Then she softened just enough for Brittany to notice. "You better get your hot ass out there to practice! Coach Sylvester will replace me as head cheerleader if I can't even keep _you_ in line."

Brittany smiled because Santana said her ass was hot. As she followed her out of the locker room, a feeling of sadness swept over her.

"Status," she said knowingly. Santana was afraid of losing her status. It was turning her world upside down. Seeing Puck, her popular ex, with Rachel, basically the biggest loser they had to associate with directly; well that must be really hard. Like one of Coach Sylvester's shout-stories.

"Did you say something, Britt?" Santana asked over her shoulder.

"Huh?" Brittany furrowed her brow.

"Nothing," Santana sighed.

…

Santana hated this feeling. She felt like she was losing her status. Like her world was turning upside down. As she was herding Brittany to practice, a nagging fear surfaced: the one about losing her top spot on the squad, and really in school in general. If she couldn't even get her own girlfriend out to practice on time, Coach would see that as a sign of weakness and failed leadership.

Not that Brittany was her _girlfriend_ girlfriend.

Well, maybe she was in her heart, but Santana knew her parents would flip out if she ever 'came out'. So, she didn't. Brittany was beautiful, and sweet, and she really took orders well. She was kinda dumb, but Santana could work with that. And sometimes it was more of an advantage than anything else.

But Santana wasn't gay. Definitely not. Like she told Britt, sometimes a girl just needs a deep dicking. The idiots in that ridiculous movie were sorta right about that one thing. It had been a little awkward, but also really appropriate, that it was the four of them who had watched that movie at Mike's place. San, Britt, Mike, and Matt, watching a movie about a gay girl going straight then gay. Or whatever. Most of it was crap. But some of it was right. And most of it was funny. But she didn't like the subtle hint that she thought Mike was trying to give to Brittany—that she should give up Santana and only be with him.

That shit was not cool. It was enough to make her want to cut a bitch.

But the bitch she really had it in for was Rachel Berry.

Somehow, Man-hands didn't recognize that Puck was _hers_, even when they weren't officially dating. Puck was supposed to be her fuck-buddy.

Not that they had started out that way.

They had been each other's firsts. They grew up together, developed together, experimented together. They were almost like version of the same person. And maybe, just maybe, Santana held some kind of romantic notation that they were made for each other. Like soul-mates. If she could have Brittany and Puck, she thought her life could be ok.

Sure, she broke up with him at the start of sophomore year with a lame excuse. But she had her reasons. Chiefly among them: she wanted to see if he cared enough about her to protest and win her back. It didn't help that Quinn had been pointing out what a big Lima Loser he was, and asking how she could be with a guy like that. Of course, now Santana knew why Quinn had done that.

Sneaky bitch.

Sure, Santana stepped off when he and Quinn were playing house and trying to be a real family. She wasn't a home-wrecker. Besides, Quinn got all mama-bear-bitchy and told her to back off and Puck…well, Puck basically rejected her advances. Even when she pointed out that Quinn was a disgusting whale and she was fit and _flexible_, Puck still said 'no'. So yeah, Santana stepped.

But when those two failed, like she knew they would, Santana made her move. And Puck turned her down. _Again_.

It was unthinkable.

Then when Santana found out he had turned her down because of _Rachel Berry_, she had almost lost it. And Treasure-Trail almost got jacked.

Turning _her _down for that…that…Tranny?

Un-freakin-believable.

It was really fucking with her head too. She was totally off of her game.

Sometimes Santana wondered what things would have been like if she'd never broken up with Puck. But one thing she knew. He didn't fight for her back then. He didn't beg to get her back. Maybe they hadn't been in glee club back then, but she was sure there was no way in hell Puck would have serenaded _her_. Not like the way he did with Ra—that Israeli freak!

Thinking about it was enough to make Santana want to scream out loud.

Then cry alone.

Her feelings…they're complicated.

Santana pulled herself together as she drove home from Cheerios practice. She had Brittany, and Santana smiled to herself as she thought of the blond cheerleader. And she had Matt. He was pretty sweet and romantic, really, she decided. And a good lay. So yeah, she was getting over what's-his-name.

Still, even now she wanted Puck to be her fuck-buddy. Like she thought he should want from her. She wanted him to want her. No matter who either of them were with at the time, they had always gone back to each other for a good screw. That's how things were _supposed _to be.

Santana felt a warm ache in her chest, which she ignored and explained away. They knew how to get each other off and keep it interesting. He was hot. She was hot. It made sense.

It's not _that_ complicated.

But to see _those two_ parading around, acting all sweet…like they were in _love_... Disgusting. She was vomiting in her mouth so often every day at school, she was sure she had ulcers or some shit.

Seriously, the whole Puckleberry fiasco was bad for her health. There was no way Santana could stay at the top of the social hierarchy if her head was all messed up and she had bleeding ulcers because she was forced to watch Puck serenade Rachel and act like a whipped pussy all the time.

That is why it had to stop. Santana needed to put an end to that insanity.

She put forth a pretty inspired attempt on Superbowl Sunday.

But it didn't work. Those two bounced back, disgusting as ever. Puck actually sat stroking her hair while Rachel slept in his lap during the game.

Damn, she wanted to cut the bitch.

…

Damn, I could cut a bitch, Mercedes thought. There she was, sitting on the floor at Rachel's house with Eric and a bowl of popcorn, having what seemed like it should be a good time.

And at first, Mercedes was having a good time. The idea seemed ok, though upon reflection, it was pretty weird. It was all about doing "couples things" with Puck and Rachel and Kurt and Alex. Rachel was being watched like a hawk by her dads around Puck. Not that Mercedes could blame the Berrys. That boy is like walking sex.

It seemed like Rachel wanted Puck to get on her dads' good side by showing that he could restrain himself from fondling her, as well as by showing his gay tolerance—by inviting over Kurt and Alex to join them in their "couples time".

Rachel said she and Kurt would be hosting some marathon nights at her house. Mercedes realized after the invite that she was kind of an after-thought. Kurt hadn't thought to ask her along originally. Rachel suggested it. Probably to show that Puck had a black-tolerance too. Of course, it wasn't Kurt's house, but still. She was supposed to be Kurt's best friend. When the hell did he and Rachel get so close?

She didn't expect that Puck would have voluntarily invited her. Sure they'd struck up an incredibly weird friendship of some kind which Mercedes was kinda proud of, but there was no way this whole couples thing was his idea, and no way he'd invite her. But Mercedes was kinda dating Alex's little brother, Eric; so you'd think that Kurt and Alex would automatically think to include them. She and Eric had gone to the Valentine's Dance together and were basically hanging out. Sure, he was a freshman and she was a junior, but he was cute and they could do fun things together. Especially now that Kurt was always with Alex.

And now Mercedes was sharing Kurt with Alex _and Rachel_.

Anyway, at first she thought all of them hanging out together would be fun. Kurt had talked up this show that he just loved like it was God's gift to teens. He made it sound like he wanted to share his favorite show with his favorite people.

Little did she know there would be two big problems with the show.

First, it was clear in the pilot that there was only one token black dude. In like, the whole show. So Mercedes was feeling a bit pissed and marginalized among her white friends. (Yeah, like it isn't obvious that Rachel's real dad is the Jewish one, not the black one. Come on.)

Second, it became clear that it wasn't just Kurt's favorite show. It was Kurt and Rachel's favorite show. Together.

Mercedes thought about the good old days when she and Kurt would bitch about Rachel together.

Now they're all watching this Veronica Mars show together as their "couples activity". That would be fine. Except Mercedes had to endure Kurt and Rachel squealing at things right before they would actually happen, gabbing each other in excitement. Then shushing each other so they "don't ruin it for everyone else".

Too late. Mercedes had to roll her eyes. Officially ruined.

Puck happened to catch her mid-eye-roll. He smirked. She smirked back and gave a small smile because she figured he felt her pain.

The funny thing was that she and Puck really had been on friendly terms for a while. Mercedes had rooted for Puck and Rachel to get back together after their big fight. She had even tried to help Puck by suggesting songs. And she had explained to Rachel that she had been the one prompting Puck to serenade her when Rachel had been upset that he had done so on a day she specifically asked not to see him. But that was all in the past. Those two were looking cozy together on the couch near a cuddling Kurt and Alex, while she and Eric sat comfortably on the floor, enjoying their first "couples activity".

They decided to try to do a marathon, so this wasn't just a one-time thing. Mercedes wasn't sure if she could take any more of the Kurt-Rachel squeals. As they were leaving for the night, Rachel was politely thanking everyone, of course, and making plans for the next mini-marathon showing.

Awh hell-to-the-nawh! Mercedes had to put a stop to this. She just couldn't keep it up. She could probably handle everyone there individually, but put the group together in one room for a few hours and Mercedes wasn't sure she could stop things from ending violently. She composed herself and said, "Thanks, Rachel, but this show just really isn't my thing. So you guys feel free to keep it up, but I'll sit this out."

Rachel's mouth opened in surprise as she appeared to try to figure out how to respond. Kurt gasped, looking aghast, "Girl, I am appalled to hear that you do not appreciate the best show on the planet as well as this excellent company!"

Mercedes narrowed her eyes at the 'excellent company' remark, but she was spared from saying something she probably shouldn't by Rachel's reply.

"I'm sorry that you did not enjoy the show, Mercedes. I would suggest that you give it a few more episodes. It's really amazing. And we'd really like to have you over to keep watching with us. It's fun to hang out together, don't you think?" She didn't pause long enough for Mercedes to answer—luckily. "But perhaps it is the company you found disagreeable… If so, I can understand if you wish to decline the invitation to continue our marathon… I'm sorry if…"

Rachel trailed off and looked like she was about to cry.

Shit. Mercedes didn't want to make her cry. "Nah, it wasn't so bad," she shrugged. Then she reached out and awkwardly patted Rachel on the shoulder. "I'll give it another chance. I'll be here for the next showing, ok?"

Rachel beamed up at her with tear-filled eyes and nodded rapidly.

Damn.

Back at home, Mercedes was online when she got a message from Puck.

"Sup Jones?"

"Nada. U?"

"Same. B's on. Has a msg for u."

Mercedes sighed to herself and typed, "Ok", leaving out the question mark she wanted to put at the end. She pictured the two of them together on their computers. So she typed, "R u 2 in the same room? Online?"

"Yep"

"Weird" she typed. "Figured you'd be doing something else."

"What? Oh ;) Yeah, B can't get enuf of this. But we do normal stuff 2"

Mercedes smiled at his message. Then she typed, "Especially with her dads new rulz"

"Totally blows"

Mercedes held back typing a dirty reply. She expected Puck to make up for it, and he did.

"And she doesn't. Get it?"

"Lol. Wouldn't be braggin if I were u" she laughed as she typed.

"Tru dat"

Then Mercedes got a message from Rachel.

"I hate to interrupt. I'm hoping to send you my message, Mercedes. Is now a good time?"

"Sure"

And then in several message later, Mercedes had a grammatically correct, perfectly typed apology and explanation letter from Rachel. Why the girl didn't type it up into a report and email it was beyond her. Actually, as soon as the last message was received, Rachel wrote back saying that she could compile her message into a Word document and email it.

"That's ok. I'll read it now." And Mercedes did. And it was sweet, and thoughtful, and long-winded, and so…Rachel. That's when Mercedes had a slight change of heart. She still found Rachel to be annoying. But a part of her found Rachel to be endearing too. And in that moment, she felt sorta warm and fuzzy toward that little white girl.

"Thanks for ur msg, bb!" Mercedes typed. "Ur sweet. Thank u! I'll c u guys next time, don't worry."

So yeah, while it was still sometimes hard to stomach the Kurt-Rachel bonding and the Puck-Rachel adorable-ness, Mercedes decided that maybe she didn't need to be such a bitch.

This whole friendship thing…it's kinda nice too.

…

**A.N.** The tentative outline for rest of the story includes: chapter 9, Tina and Mike; ch 10, Finn; ch 11, Jesse; and ch 12, Puck and Rachel. If you have suggestions, let me know. Then in August I'm planning to finish the first chapter of the mini-sequel to _Junior Year_, probably entitled _Summer in the City_. Most of those who took my poll about the sequel said to start it in the summer, and I have chapter 1 started based on that. For any readers who haven't taken the poll about the sequel, you can find it in my Author Profile, still open for responses. Thanks so much!

**Disclaimer:** Some phrases inspired by the movie _Chasing Amy_, which I actually like. Also, I had written this chapter but hadn't finished it when I had an email conversation with two people who might recognize a bit from the end, if they read this update ;)


	9. Asian, Other Asian Invasion

**Chapter 9. Asian-Other Asian Invasion.**

**A.N. **This chapter comes from the perspectives of Tina and Mike from Chapter 22 through the end of the completed story, _Junior Year_. I'll be switching back and forth between these two povs. A review from** fresch **mentioned Tina a while ago, and I decided to work in all of the gleeks before finishing up this story (hence, Mike).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Glee or anything familiar.

…

It was the first day of sixth grade. She was shy. Noah Puckerman pulled her ponytail just as she was called on to answer a question in class. She stuttered as she struggled to free her hair from his grasp and figure out what the teacher had just asked. Mrs. Green looked like she felt sorry for her and quickly called on someone else.

Rachel Berry, who sat in the desk next to Tina, waved her hand insistently. "Mrs. Green, Mrs. Green!"

"Yes, Rachel?" asked Mrs. Green with an eyebrow raised.

"Noah was pulling Tina's hair! That's why she didn't answer you!"

Tina turned and gave Rachel a small smile, silently thanking her for her big mouth—a quality Tina didn't have. It was a quality that sometimes she admired about the little brunette and sometimes she found truly annoying. And while in this moment she admired Rachel's tattling; Mrs. Green seemed to be annoyed. It didn't help that Noah held up his hands innocently and was somehow good at charming the lady teachers. Tina turned back around to face the front as Mrs. Green called out, "Tina, is that true?"

She was caught off guard and didn't like to be put on the spot. Tina found herself opening and closing her mouth a few times before she finally stammered, "Uh…"

Mrs. Green gave a self-satisfied smile. "You see, Rachel? It's not nice to tattle, or to point out a classmate's stutter."

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms but she didn't argue.

Tina felt bad that she didn't correct Mrs. Green and tell her that Rachel was right. But that's when the seed was planted for the bright idea to fake a stutter to get out of reading a report on The Missouri Compromise in front of the class.

She'd felt so smart at the time: like the heavens opened and angels sang as the idea to adopt a new persona entered her young mind.

That's how she became an outsider. That's how this began for Tina Cohen-Chang.

…

It was the first day of seventh grade. He was practicing some dance moves while he waited for the bus. Looking back, that probably wasn't the best time and place for practice. Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson joined him at the bus stop.

"Dude, Mike, is that you? What are you doing?" Puck asked.

He grinned sheepishly in return and felt his face flush with embarrassment as he raised his sunglasses. "It's nothing. Just practicing some moves." He was hoping his friends would be impressed.

But right away, he could tell they weren't. Finn looked confused. Puck looked amused. He continued, "And this year, I'm thinking of going by Michael at school."

Finn looked even more confused and turned to Puck. "He doesn't even look like a Michael." Finn furrowed his brow in concentration. "That would be like calling Matt…Wimbledon or something."

"What?" Matt Rutherford made it to the bus stop just in time to hear his name.

"You know what I'm sayin'?" Finn asked Puck, ignoring Matt's question.

Matt looked around at the assembled group for an explanation. Puck elbowed Finn as he explained, "Michael is like his wussed-up alter ego." Then he turned to Mike. "Ok, Fudge-packer. We're not gonna make fun of you cause you're Asian anymore. Now it's gonna be because you're a giant dancing pussy, Mi-chael."

He folded his arms across his chest as he huffed, "Forget it. Just keep calling me Mike."

"What are you guys talking about?" Matt demanded.

And sometime around that moment was when Mike Chang started wavering between repressing his personality and expressing it.

…

**Junior Year**

Sometimes, Tina Cohen-Chang felt like her brain was paralyzed: like she'd spent all that time faking a stutter and it made her brain all stutter-y and halt-y. Then she'd feel guilty for thinking that she _felt_ paralyzed because she'd look over at Artie who's _really_ paralyzed. So she'd feel lame and not know what to do, and the cycle would continue. Basically, Tina felt like she did a lot of _watching_ and not a lot of _doing_. And right now that was especially the case when it came to her new and tentative friendship with Rachel Berry and Noah Puckerman. And when Rachel started going all crazy drill sergeant on them about preparing for Regionals, and Puck started getting ragged on by the guys, Tina thought maybe she should say something. Something, anything. Maybe to Rachel, to help her chill out and realize all the great things she had in her life and that winning wasn't the most important thing. Maybe to the rest of the glee club, to tell them that Puck was obviously stressed out enough and their teasing didn't help. But what did Tina actually do?

She froze.

…

Sometimes, Mike Chang felt trapped: like he was living a life that wasn't the right one, but he didn't know what to do to get out of it. His family wanted him to be a doctor or something. His teachers just wanted him and everyone else to sit back and shut up and not rock the boat. But all he ever wanted to do was be noticed. Sure he was quiet, but he wanted to perform. He really wanted to be a dancer. He wanted people to see him and really notice him and his talent. He wanted to have one unique quality that would stand out to people. And not the quality of being Asian. Living in Lima, Ohio meant that he and Tina were part of a small Asian community. The guys tended to make cracks about his ethnicity. He'd laugh it off and joke back, but it sucked. And sometimes, Mike couldn't take it. So when he saw a weakness…an opportunity to get a few digs in on one of his friends who mocked him the most…what did he do?

Mike went for it.

…

It started at the end of glee rehearsal with Rachel finishing up a lecture about their dedication to beating Vocal Adrenaline. She said something about how they all needed to "put the umph in triumph," which earned her a room full of eye rolls and groans. Even Mr. Schue looked tired of her antics. (Well, Mike supposed Schue almost _always_ looked tired of Rachel.)

Don't misunderstand. Mike liked Rachel. And he liked Puck. They were friends and all. But this was an opportunity he couldn't resist. This is what friends did. At least, that's what guys did. So Mike reached over to elbow Puck. "Dude, why can't you control your little woman?"

Puck just gave him a dirty look and rolled his eyes. Mike saw Matt raise an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if that meant Matt approved or disapproved of the remark. But when he heard Artie pipe up by saying, "Word!" Mike continued. "I mean, Rachel's wound up pretty tight. I think you need to take care of business to get her off our backs!"

With what generally seemed to be approval from the other glee clubbers, Mike continued taunting Puck in rehearsals over the next few days. He told himself that if this worked, everyone would be better off because Puck would get Rachel to calm the hell down. And even if it didn't work, at least he was giving Puck a taste of his own medicine, which everyone deserved to get at least once in a lifetime. At least, that's what Mike thought (with a touch of smug satisfaction). So he got a little bolder, and a little louder. "Puck, dude, have you lost your skillz? Can't you do something to get your girl under control and off of our backs? Shouldn't she be on _her_ back instead?"

Rachel must have overheard at least some of that. She turned red in the face as she shouted, "Noah Puckerman does not own me! I'm an independent woman! I don't care what you or my therapist say!"

Well, that brought on the laughter because that little chick was hilarious when she was angry. Plus, she mentioned her therapist, which just emphasized what they already knew about her craziness.

…

Tina felt uncomfortable at Mike's tormenting of Puck at Rachel's expense. But she never said anything. And she found herself laughing with everyone else at Mike's comment and Rachel's outburst. Then she felt guilty. Again.

She didn't do any better at the victory party after they tied with Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals. They had all devised a plan on how they could celebrate with a little alcohol—which was definitely on Rachel's list of 'what not to do' before Nationals. Tina went along with everything as they stocked up Brittany's kitchen with liquor her brother bought for them and Kurt, Alex, and Mercedes kept Rachel talking in the living room and out of the kitchen. Tina was fine with the glee clubbers letting loose and having a little reward after their victory at Regionals. Even if it meant keeping secrets from Rachel. Because really Rachel was being a little unreasonable. But Tina felt like maybe she should have noticed Puck getting piss-drunk. And maybe she shouldn't have laughed when he put Rachel in her place. And maybe she should have been the one to help Rachel get home instead of standing frozen in place as Quinn swept in and offered Rachel a ride.

To be fair though, it was pretty funny to watch Rachel stomping towards Puck when she realized they had been sneaking booze in the kitchen.

"Noah Puckerman, what do you think you're doing?" Rachel demanded.

"Lighten up, Berry," he leered at her, stabilizing himself against the kitchen counter.

"You're drunk!"

Puck shrugged. "So. You drive. Or we'll stay the night."

"You know I can't drive your truck! It's got a stick shift! And you know I can't stay the night! We're finally making progress with my dads!"

"Seriously, you're gonna have to calm down. My head hurts," Puck said, starting to slur his words.

"Well, a headache serves you right for drinking!" Then Rachel spun around to address everyone. "I can't believe you're all being so cavalier about drinking after everything we've been training for—we've made it to the next level and you're all acting so…so…careless! I feel you owe me and yourselves an apology!"

"Hh, I've g't. Why dnt _you _'polgize t' _me_ 'nd evry'ne 'lse f' yur crzy b'tchy a'tude?"

Everyone correctly interpreted Puck's drunk-speak as "Hey, I've got it. Why don't _you_ apologize to _me_ and everyone else for your crazy bitchy attitude?" And they all agreed. Everyone applauded. Even Tina.

Rachel opened her mouth, closed it, and repeated a few times. Everyone could surely see that she was about to burst into tears.

Puck started to open his mouth to say something. But as he did, a heinous belch was released, and everyone could guess what was coming next. He spun around to find the nearest appropriate place to puke.

So Rachel started crying and heading for the door. Tina watched as Quinn touched Rachel on the shoulder and offered her a ride. She watched them go and felt a pang of regret for being frozen in place rather than jumping to Rachel's aid. Some friend she was. Tina had even applauded along with the others because seriously Rachel was being way too competitive. She found it a little odd that it was Quinn who came to Rachel's rescue, but Quinn and Rachel seemed to hang around each other more often now—for reasons that Tina didn't understand and was never told. She decided that since she had missed that opportunity to help her, the next best thing she could do would be to stick around to make sure Puck's ok and report back to Rachel. She hung outside the bathroom door, listening to Puck vomit and listening for a thud she was hoping not to hear.

Artie wheeled to her and looked up at her suspiciously. "Since when have you shown an interest in Puck?"

Tina wasn't sure what Artie was getting at—was he jealous? Did he think she _liked Puck_? That she would try to _steal_ him from Rachel? Tina was getting a little upset. "Since he is still Rachel's boyfriend, I thought Rachel would appreciate it if someone would look out for him. So that's what I'm doing." She crossed her arms defensively. She was no Santana Lopez. Artie had been her friend, a good one, but things weren't quite the same ever since she revealed that she didn't really have a stutter. He always seemed to be holding a little something back. And now he was acting jealous? And had a low opinion of her?

"Oh, that makes sense," said Artie slowly, almost to himself. Then he looked her in the eyes. "You're a really good person, Tina."

She could feel the warmth in his words, in his tone. "I'm trying to be," she smiled shyly.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He nodded his head in the direction of the bathroom. They could both hear retching on the other side of the door.

"Actually yes, thanks. Could you stick around to help me with Puck after he, uh, finishes? He might have trouble walking or something."

"Of course," Artie said.

…

Mike found the entire victory party experience hilarious. It called for some pop and lock. Tina, Artie, and Finn seemed to have Puck under control, so Mike focused on sticking around to score with Brittany sans Santana.

…

On Monday, Tina saw Rachel rush into the music room, looking upset. She headed her way but was surprised when Quinn intercepted Rachel first. Perhaps Quinn was better equipped to deal with Rachel's issues with Puck anyway, so Tina retreated to her seat for glee, listening in on the conversation in front of her.

"Oh, Quinn, he's just so frustrating! I'll think he's the most attentive boyfriend in the world, and then he reveals that he doesn't really even listen to a word I'm saying. I don't know what to think." Rachel replied to Quinn's simple inquiry of 'how are you'.

"He's a jerk," Quinn agreed, "but he can be romantic too. I think he's probably been more romantic with you than anyone. Like that _Sweet Caroline_ solo. I didn't even realize he was singing it to you at first, but it was really romantic."

"You're right," Rachel said. She gave a small smile. "He's serenaded me outside my house before, and he sang a song, alone with his guitar, on stage at one of his shows."

Quinn perked up. "Glad you mention that. Puck asked me to make sure I get you to come to his next show with the band."

Now Tina really knew there was a lot going on in Rachel's life that she didn't know about, but that Quinn did. She felt a little depressed about it; thinking about how she might have done things differently if she had the chance.

But on Wednesday, she felt a little better. Tina was at her locker before first period, preparing for another day. It had been four days since she and Artie had helped Puck out of Brittany's bathroom and into her bed on the night of the Regionals victory party. Rachel had already thanked Tina profusely for her service, since Finn had let her know that before he got the call from Quinn, Tina had already started The Puck-Watch. By now, Tina wasn't expecting that she'd get an acknowledgment from Puck. He might not even remember that portion of the night. So she was surprised when Puck appeared next to her, holding a slushie.

"'Sup, Tina," said Puck. "Here, this is for you. It's grape. It matches the streaks in your hair today." Puck held out the slushie for her to take.

Tina felt herself blush a little. "Thanks, Puck. What's the occasion?" she asked as she took the cup.

"Oh, yeah. I meant to say that first." Puck ran his hand over his Mohawk. "This is a delayed 'thanks' for your help on Saturday. I was really out of it."

Tina grinned at Puck's slightly flustered response. Plus it was sweet and nice to be thanked. "You're welcome. I was just trying to be a friend to you and Rachel." Tina shrugged, and then raised the slushie cup. "Thanks again for the drink. Did Rachel tell you to give me a thank you gift?" she grinned.

"Nah, this was all me," Puck said in his usual cocky manner. "See ya later, T."

Artie came by Tina's locker to head to class with her. "So a slushie from Puck, huh?" he raised his eyebrows. "You know that's how he got things started with Rachel." Artie smiled and Tina smiled back, assuming he was in a joking mood.

"And how do you know that?"

"I have my ways," Artie said mysteriously. "Now I'm just wondering why Puck hasn't given _me_ a 'thank you slushie' yet. These wheels came in handy for carrying his drunk ass!"

Tina laughed. Artie was good at making her feel…happier.

…

And over Spring Break, Tina even felt more like part of a group of friends. Kurt invited all the glee girls who were in Lima over the break for a sleepover at his house after Puck embarrassed Rachel by announcing their sex-capades. So she was at Kurt's with Quinn and Rachel, and Quinn started talking about her situation with Finn and some Josh guy. It was weird at first, but then Tina decided she actually liked girl talk. And when Kurt suggested they make a music video to empower Quinn based on La Roux's "Bulletproof" Tina was happy to dig into her makeup supply to imitate the look.

She couldn't really believe who she was with that night and how much fun they were actually having.

…

Spring Break sucked for Mike Chang. Brittany went to Cabo with Santana. And yeah, Mike went on vacation with his family, but all he could think about was Brittany. With Santana.

And yeah, maybe the thought was kinda hot. Sometimes. But mostly it sucked.

There was one thought that gave him hope. He had applied to dance camp in New York and had convinced Brittany to apply with him. And Santana didn't know about it.

What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Well, maybe it would a little. But it was all for a good cause.

Mike's cause.

He couldn't wait to hear if they were both accepted. Then June might be unadulterated awesome.

Unadulterated…cool word, right? Sometimes having to study hard to please his parents had unintended benefits.

And shortly after Spring Break, Mike did get his letter…his acceptance letter! He called Brittany right away and had her read her letter to him over the phone. He was so excited as he explained to her that they both got into the summer dance program.

He was riding on that high all day at school, and he was in such a good mood, he didn't even really make fun of Puck and Finn when he walked in on them doing a duet to serenade Rachel and Quinn. It was messed up song too, one with all kinds of potential for tormenting—_Calling You_ or something like that.

They finished the song, and Puck sat his guitar down, looked at Rachel, and asked, "Well, what did you think?"

Rachel threw herself into Puck's arms. Mercedes gave a little huff, "That song sounds like something a stalker would sing."

Mike nodded in silent agreement. It totally did.

"You call it stalking, I call it love," said Rachel dreamily as she hugged Puck.

"You would," snarked Kurt. "You're a match made in stalker-heaven."

The pair in question narrowed their eyes and crossed their arms over their chests. Like weird twins. Mike burst out laughing, and so did everyone else.

"Hey, it's just about keeping in touch over the summer while Rachel's in New York for her summer program. No need to get your panties in a twist." Puck addressed the room of laughing students, but his eyes met Kurt's.

New York over the summer? Surely Rachel wasn't going to the same camp…

Kurt huffed, then softened a bit. "Well, I was about to say…now that I'm over the initial 'ick factor' and the shock that the two of you really are still together, your obvious attachment to each other really warms my heart."

"Thank you, Kurt!" exclaimed Rachel.

Mike looked at Brittany to see if she was thinking the same thing about Rachel going to camp with them. She just smiled at him blankly.

"Well, if you're looking for a song about missing someone over the summer," started Artie, "try this one on." He launched into Bill Withers' _Ain't No Sunshine_.

Finn grinned and hit the drum kit, while Puck smiled and began playing along on his guitar. And well, none of the guys could resist joining in the chorus.

Of course, Mr. Schue came in during the song and was not happy. But after Mr. Schue got done yelling at them for serenading each other instead of rehearsing for Nationals, and after they finished glee for the day, then the mystery of the New York summer trips was solved. Before Mike had a chance to ask, he was surprised to hear Tina speak up.

"So, Rachel, what program are you going to this summer?"

Rachel started talking, then Tina started talking, and they soon realized that they were going to the same acting program. And that meant they were in a subsection of the same camp Mike and Britt would be going to in June.

"Tina, I must admit that I'm a bit surprised to learn that you're so interested in acting to spend time and money on a summer program," said Rachel.

"Yeah," explained Tina, "Confidence is an important trait for a doctor, which is what my parents want me to be. The camp was a good opportunity to compromise between my interests in the arts and their interests in making me go to some pre-med camp. I could barely get through the dissections in freshman bio, you know? I can't believe my whole family wants me to be a doctor."

"Hey, so does mine!" exclaimed Mike. Tina smiled as Mike offered a high five. "And, get this, Brittany and I applied to the summer dance program at NYU, and we both got in too!" Santana had been leaving the room when she heard this bit of news. She spun on her heel and headed back towards the group.

"So we all, independently, applied and were accepted to the summer performing arts program at NYU?" asked Rachel, sounding stunned.

"Looks like it!" Mike replied. "I tried to get Matt to apply to the dance program too." Mike gave Matt a little shove.

Matt shoved Mike back. "Oh, man, you know moms wouldn't let me. She thinks I should be a doctor or something too and said we can't spend that kind of money for a summer dance camp."

"Dude, what about football camp?" Puck asked.

"Oh, that's the beauty of this whole thing. I get to miss the first week of football camp! And I get to hang with my girl," he put his arm around Brittany, pulling her and her chair towards him. Brittany came back with a light golden tan from spring break in Mexico with Santana, and Mike thought she looked so good. "And now I know that Tina C. and Rachel B. will be there too. How sweet!" He smiled at the other two girls.

"Britt, you didn't tell me about this," Santana said as she walked toward them.

Brittany shrugged. "I didn't think you'd want to go to dance camp and risk your spot as head Cheerio. Coach would probably kill you."

"That was really sweet of you, Britt. But won't Coach Sylvester be mad at you too?" Santana pointed out.

"No. Coach said…" Brittany's face twisted with effort as she tried to remember. "…she could spare me for two weeks because…I'm usually not all there anyway… But I pick up on the routines fast."

Santana suppressed a smile at Brittany's answer. "Well, I still wish you'd told me. Now I'll be missing you, I mean _the team_ will be missing you, for those two weeks this summer."

Mike rolled his eyes. "You had her for spring break, now I'll get her for a few weeks this summer. Deal with it." Mike grinned at the thought of cockblocking Santanta for the two weeks he'd be with Brittany in New York. Heh. Was there another word for cockblocking when it's keeping one girl from having sex with another girl? But Mike was pulled from his thoughts when he realized Brittany and Santana were leaving the room without him. Santana was playing with Brittany's hair. Mike thought maybe it would be hot if she weren't his competition. "Yo! Hold up, Britt!" he called as he scrambled to catch up with the girls.

…

"So you're really leaving this summer too, Tina?" Artie asked on their way out the door. "I didn't even know I had a reason to sing that song. Now I'll be thinking about it a lot."

Tina looked into Artie's blue eyes. She couldn't tell if he was joking like he usually did. So she went with a neutral response. "I'll only be away for two weeks."

"I don't know…two weeks without the sun…" he teased, referring to his song. "Maybe you should be my date to Prom to make it up to me."

Tina smiled brightly and nodded rapidly. To be honest, she had expected Artie to ask her to Prom. But he said "date" where she had been expecting to hear an invitation that included "as friends" and that little four-letter word seemed to make a big difference.

…

Performing at Nationals was pretty awesome, if you ask Mike Chang. And hanging out at the pool in Orlando while they blew off one day of watching their competitors was even better. Especially because most of the girls were wearing bikinis. And he had to say one thing for Rachel Berry's strict diet and exercise regimen before competition—everyone looked _fit_! Mike noticed that Puck was surrounded by girls from Vocal Adrenaline, and he didn't spot Rachel. Mike smirked to himself and wondered if Puck was up to his old habits. But as soon as Rachel came down to the pool, Puck brushed off the other girls.

Mike turned away from the scene of Puck and Rachel kissing from the other side of the pool…until he heard the whistles. He turned back to see Rachel no longer in the little dress thing she had been wearing, but now standing in front of Puck in this tiny bikini.

_Holy shit_.

Her body was tight!

Rachel dove into the pool, and Mike and Matt looked at each other, "Dude!" they both said, with their eyes wide. They headed toward Puck automatically, and Finn trudged along behind them.

"Now we know…" Mike said as if he'd solved a mystery of epic proportions. Because it was like they totally had the answers now.

Matt started, "I mean all our girls look _damn_ good," he gestured to the pool area, and they all took a moment to admire Santana, Brittany, and Quinn lounging poolside. Really all of the girls in glee looked good! "But those Cheerios car washes in bikinis gave everyone lots of info." They took a moment to remember the last bikini car wash. "Rachel wore all those skirts…so we all knew she had the legs, and we figured she must have a pretty tight body if you were so interested, but _damn_, man!"

Puck started interrupting him as soon as Matt said the word _interested_, "Don't talk about Rachel like that now that I'm dating her."

"Why? You used to talk about seeing Santana's _ovaries_ when you two were dating," said Mike.

"That's different."

"Why?" asked Matt. "Santana and I are dating now, and you've said some messed up shit about her."

Puck brushed off Matt's question, "Everyone's seen Santana's ovaries. Hell, even Finn here's seen 'em."

Finn flushed, "Hey, how'd you know that?"

"Oh shit, you really did? No fucking way! When'd you tap that?" cried Puck. Matt crossed his arms over his chest. Mike could tell he was pissed at Puck for the Santana stuff, but he was curious to hear what Finn had to say about getting in on Santana's action.

"Last year," Finn mumbled.

"And you never said anything? That's whack," said Puck.

"Whatever, I dunreallywannatalkaboutit."

Mike and Puck exchanged knowing smiles. _Santana took Finn's virginity_. It couldn't have been a very shining moment. Mike noticed Matt was clenching his fists.

"Alright, we get it, man," said Puck as he clapped a hand on Finn's back. Matt nodded in agreement.

"Hey, what's going on, guys?" Artie asked as he wheeled towards them. "Why does Finn look all constipated?"

There was moment when Mike debated keeping Finn's secret from Artie. He decided not to be the asshole this time. Usually that was Puck's job anyway, and he was staying quiet. He just left to get a towel to go swimming. While Puck was gone, Mike and the guys saw Vocal Adrenaline's super-fine director come down to the pool. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, but that couldn't hide the fact that she had a slammin' rack, fine ass, and killer legs.

"Dude! Are you seeing this?" Mike elbowed Puck and looked towards Shelby Corcoran. "So hot," he said in a high-pitched voice.

Puck smirked but he said, "Uh, maybe we shouldn't, uh, be so obvious…"

"Take off your dress, dude," said Matt. "_You're_ telling us _not_ to check out a hot cougar? Sup with that?"

Mike piped up, "This just in, a serious injury to report, we have a guy whose girlfriend has just removed his balls."

"Whatever, dude." Puck said flatly. He looked around and the guys followed his gaze, spotting Rachel talking to Jesse St. James at the pool. "I'm gonna go get my balls back from Berry," he said as he headed her way.

So of course, Mike and Matt mocked him with, "Oh! Oh!" and "No she di-n't!" yells from across the pool.

Somehow, Puck didn't end up in a fight with Jesse, New Directions lost at Nationals, he wasn't able to sneak in a go-round with Brittany on the last night in Florida, and the whole thing ended pretty lame if you ask Mike. At least he had Prom to look forward to with Britt, and their time away from Santana in New York.

June was gonna be sweet!

Once they got back to Lima from Nationals, Prom, finals, and dance camp became the hot topics in Mike's mind. Of course, Santana was on the rag or something because she got all bitchy about wanting to change things up and go to Prom with Brittany.

"Look, Santana," Mike said. "I already asked Brittany, and Matt already asked you. But I get that you and Brittany are…kind of a couple too. I'm not letting you take Brittany away from me, but my suggestion is that we all go together." He grabbed Brittany's hand and clapped Matt on the back. Then he felt the need to clarify, "Not _together_, together."

"As if! I'm just not that into you," Santana said snidely.

"Hey, I'm giving you an olive branch and you're spitting in my face!" Mike protested.

"Oh, is that your face?" mocked Santana.

"Oh, is that your come-back?" Mike snarked back.

Santana flushed. "Whatever. Fine, I guess we can all go together, but I have to make an entrance with Brittany as part of the deal."

Mike wasn't sure why that mattered. He just shrugged. "Fine. Deal. I can't wait to escort you ladies to the Prom," he said with a hint of sarcasm. Then he felt he needed to clarify again, "Sorry, Matt, I didn't mean I'm escorting you. You weren't included as a _lady_. And I don't mean we should have a foursome or something. Not that you're not a great guy, but I'm not into dudes."

"Me neither!" Matt said quickly. Then he nodded, "It's cool. I get you, man. We're both into our girls and we're not interested in other guys being _into_ them too. So no threesomes either."

Santana rolled her eyes at the boys and ushered Brittany along with her to Cheerios practice.

Mike raised an eyebrow at Matt. Threesomes? Who said anything about that?

But Prom itself turned out to be pretty freakin' awesome. He got to take Brittany, who looked amazing, and watching her dance with Santana on occasion wasn't too bad. A series of hip hop songs began, and Mike realized that all of the glee clubbers had gravitated together. As the rap by Ludacris kicked off the song _Break Your Heart_ by Taio Cruz, Santana announced that Puck's anthem was starting.

Puck raised his eyebrow at her and responded, "No way, it's more like Quinn with the two guys she's juggling."

Rachel elbowed Puck in the gut, and Mike laughed. Finn and Quinn looked hurt, which was also kinda funny.

"Uh, sorry," Puck grunted. Santana raised her eyebrow in return and seemed to enjoy the awkward silence.

Thankfully, the silence was broken by Mr. Schuester making his way towards them—dancing. He did a spin, removed his jacket, and handed it to Mike. "Dance off?" he challenged.

"Oh, yeah, sweet!" Mike replied, handing off Mr. Schue's jacket to Brittany. This was where he really felt like he could shine: on a dance floor. The two of them busting a move seemed to ease the tension among the others as they cheered them on. After a few moments, Matt joined in too. Whenever Mike could, he would take the opportunity to give Britt a wink or a look, and she responded so cheerfully (and sometimes flirtatiously when Mr. Schue's back was turned) that Mike knew tonight was gonna be a great one.

…

Tina was enjoying her Junior Prom. She decided that Mike Chang was definitely the unofficial winner of the dance off. She must have been smiling to herself as she watched him.

"You know, Tina," started Artie. "It is your Prom, and even though I'm your date, I won't be offended if you wanna dance with some of the other guys."

An image of dancing with Mike flashed through Tina's mind before she looked Artie in the eyes, "Thanks, Artie, I appreciate that."

Artie shrugged and replied in his sexy voice. "You're all dolled up in a fancy dress, lookin' all fine. You deserve to get your dance on, girl."

"How about you take me for another spin around the dance floor and then I'll think about it?" Tina grinned as she slid into Artie's lap.

"I'll take this opportunity to remind you that my penis is fully functional," Artie deadpanned, then waggled his eyebrows.

Tina giggled. She was glad she couldn't feel the evidence yet because that might be a little awkward at this moment. "Good to know. Check back in with me next year and we'll talk about making me a prom night cliché at our Senior Prom."

"Fair enough," Artie nodded calmly.

Tina ended up dancing with Artie the whole night. And their kiss at the end of evening convinced her that she had made the right choice.

…

Two months later, a small group of students stood in the security line at the airport, on the way to their flight to New York City. Brittany was a pro at the security line, having been on many flights for cheerleading competitions, so she was instructing everyone on when to take off their shoes and open their bags and stuff. Mike felt really proud of her for some reason. And he was really proud and happy to be going to this dance camp. He was going to express himself, to be himself finally! …Around other people who had similar interests and wouldn't think dancing was for fags. (Not that being gay is bad or anything.) Mike glanced at Rachel briefly before realizing she couldn't read his mind. But she narrowed her eyes at him, and Mike had a moment of panic that she really _could_ read his mind.

Tina was excited to go to acting camp to gain confidence. And she thought it was possible she might gain some closer friendships out of the whole thing. Her parents were happy because the confidence building and public speaking could be applied to a future profession as a doctor (she still wasn't ready to break their hearts to tell them she was NOT going to be a physician). And she was happy because she'd be able to actually _do_ things in life instead of sitting scared on the sidelines if acting camp could help her get over her shyness. She really wanted to work in the arts professionally in the future. So badly.

The foursome made it through security and got settled in the terminal as they waited to board the plane.

"Mike, can you watch my stuff?" Brittany asked. "I have to go to the bathroom." Mike nodded and watched as she flounced off. The remaining three looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before Rachel announced happily, "We're going to have a little contingent from McKinley invading the camp!"

"Sweet!" Mike replied. He held up his fist toward Tina, preparing for a fist-bump. "Asian?"

She smirked and bumped his fist back. "Other Asian."

"Oh, this invasion is so on!" Mike exclaimed, as he and Tina let their fists 'explode'.

They all smiled. This summer was going to be great.

…

**Disclaimer:** I got a bit inspired by some banter on the show _My Boys_, in case you caught that. Other inspiration is found in the disclaimers for the original story, _Junior Year_.

**A.N.** Next time we'll see Finn's pov, and the final chapters will be Jesse and then Puck and Rachel for the conclusion of this story and the start of _Summer in the City_.


	10. Finn Again

**A.N.** Here's another (condensed) look at Finn from around Chapter 10 of the completed story _Junior Year_ to the final Chapters, with a preview of the sequel story _Summer in the City_. So it's long… I'm trying to make him true to his character with a little boyish-idiocy, a little profound insight, and a little humor. Hope I accomplish that! Thanks and shout-out to **BittyAB18** who suggested what she really wanted to see from Finn's point of view!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

It was his junior year and nearly every day he felt sick. Every time Finn Hudson looked at either Puck or Quinn (or worse, the two of them together), he imagined what Puck had done with Quinn, _his_ Quinn. The girl who wouldn't let _him_ get to second base, let Puck go _all the way_. And then _they lied_ to him. All that time he had felt guilty for his feelings towards Rachel. All that time he had wasted trying to show Quinn he was good enough for her and _their_ baby. It just made him sick.

He might have felt a little better if things had worked out with Rachel. They had dated before the end of sophomore year. But Rachel had ended it, saying that everyone should work on being friends for a while. She kind of left it open ended, but she didn't really look at him the way she used to, so Finn was slowly realizing that being "friends for a while" with Rachel might mean she'd never date him again. His life sucked.

The thing is, if Finn had to name one reason why he liked Rachel Berry, he wouldn't be able to do it. There were too many reasons: the way she looked at him, the way she made him feel, her smile, her laugh, her bangin' body… If he was forced to choose, maybe it would be the fact that she always built him up and made him feel like he was the best person in the world. While another girl always broke him down and made him feel like he was the worst person in the world. Sure, it was true that Finn really wasn't as smart as Quinn, but did she have to rub it in his face all the time? Finn realized he was happiest when he saw himself through Rachel's eyes. And when he looked in her eyes, he saw how she'd light up when they sang, or really whenever they were together. It was an amazing feeling.

But it didn't last. Not from his part though—he felt the same. It was Rachel who changed. She no longer looked at him with that…light…whatever that was that made her eyes sparkle and her smile seem so bright. And when Finn found out that Puck was getting that look…_his_ Rachel look? Well, he was understandably upset. Plus, seeing Puck with Rachel at the Winter Dance, when Rachel was _his_ date…touching her the way he was, Rachel looking back at him the way she was…it was hard to handle. And yeah, he kinda lost his temper and yelled in front of everyone. But come on! How many times could the guy do that to him?

Ok, so it wasn't exactly the same as the Quinn thing, but it was a pattern that Finn didn't like. He and Puck were supposed to be bros. They were supposed to have each other's backs. They were NOT supposed to sleep with the other's girlfriend. They were NOT supposed to steal the other's ex-girlfriend before the other had a chance to win her back. Or something like that. (It was getting a little confusing.) But Puck shouldn't have gone after Rachel too because he had to know that Finn still liked her. It's like a rule…the Bro Code and stuff. So yeah, Finn was still pissed at Puck for Quinn and now for Rachel too. And Finn was still mad at Quinn for lying (and lying and lying). Seriously, how could she do that?

Ok, he kinda understood that she didn't want to admit what she did and lose him, but she went way too far. His mom even let her move into their house! She was gonna let him think it was his daughter forever, make him pay for the bills, and then give her away? She was Miss Celibacy and Christianity, but did she have no conscience? Seriously!

But even after everything, there was always something about Quinn Fabray. Some quality that drew him to her despite what she had done. He didn't think it was just because she was beautiful, but that didn't hurt. He didn't think it was just because he'd grown comfortable with her as one half of McKinley's "it couple" since the end of freshman year. But that didn't hurt either. What was it about Quinn?

When Finn read that jewfro kid's blog right after the Winter Dance—the blog that talked about how Quinn was a secret slut and all the guys in school should try to date her because Puck and Finn were busy fighting over Rachel (yeah, that blog)—when he read it, he felt this weird pain in his guts. Twisting and stabbing deep in his stomach.

The idea of another someone else sweeping in, when Quinn was trying to make things right with him made him really, really uncomfortable. And if he didn't have feelings for her, then he shouldn't feel that way, right? He should be happy that someone would occupy Quinn while he went after Rachel. But he wasn't. At all. He was also pissed at the crude things that little cretin had written about Quinn, implying she was the school slut now. Finn wasn't happy at this development and knew Quinn would be pretty crushed if she read it. He had been mad at Quinn and Puck most of last year, and the idea of them together made him a little crazy, but it made sense that they would be together for their baby. He never thought about how he'd feel if he didn't have Rachel _or_ Quinn. That didn't seem to even be a possibility. And certainly it was never a possibility in Finn's mind that _Puck_ would have Rachel _and_ Quinn.

What the fuck? Finn didn't usually swear so bad, but _seriously_! Finn tried to imagine a world in which Rachel was dating Puck, and Quinn was dating some random guy who had read Jacob's blog and decided to be a genius. What would be worse? "Sitting idly by" without either one of them, or trying to work things out with Quinn? Because it was obvious that Rachel was going to be with Puck, not him. At least for now. She made that pretty clear.

He realized two things. First, he actually felt sorry for Quinn (in spite of everything she had done to him, he felt bad for her). Second, he was jealous. Finn was jealous of the idea of other guys going after Quinn. She did look so beautiful at the dance. And when they danced together (right before Kurt pointed out Puck and Rachel), holding her in his arms felt…right. Well, it was uncomfortable at first, but only because he found his body wanting her so badly. She was Quinn Fabray after all, who could blame him for noticing that she's beautiful? But he shouldn't be jealous if he didn't like her that way anymore, right? He couldn't be jealous of her dating other people if he wasn't ready to date her again, right?

Right, he decided. The jealousy was probably just a left-over feeling from his past. Just like the way his body felt when he held her close. It was all left-over. What would Rachel call it…what's the word? Lingering. His feelings were lingering. He needed to start simple, slowly. Friendship. That's the first step. It wasn't moving quickly to snatch up Quinn, but it wasn't "sitting idly by" like Jewfro jerk-face wrote.

Finn took a few deep breaths and threw a few karate moves at himself in the mirror. He was really going to call Quinn.

He decided to find out if she'd read Jacob's blog and to offer his friendship.

…

Everything was going pretty well, Finn thought, with the whole 'being-friends-with-Quinn' thing and the 'not-thinking-about-Rachel-and-Puck-together-like-that' thing. But that was until Rachel almost T-boned him with her car because she was so upset. That was until she told him that Puck had kissed Quinn after the Winter Dance.

After she nearly ran into him at the intersection, Finn convinced Rachel to pull over to calm down. He pulled his car over too and climbed into the passenger side of her tiny car. He was kinda crammed in, so he had to maneuver one arm around the back of her seat, with the other propped on the dashboard. Puck must have been on his way from Rachel's or something because Finn glimpsed Puck's truck going through the intersection and heard his tires squeal as he pealed out.

Finn decided it was safer not to tell Rachel that the squealing tires came from Puck, since she didn't seem to notice. She was clearly upset, but she was just sitting there in her car, wringing her hands. So there was no reason to stress her out even more by telling her that Puck just drove past.

"Rachel, can I ask you what's going on between you and Puck?"

"Sure," she said in a quiet sigh.

Finn waited for her to elaborate. She didn't. So he prodded, "Well, why are you mad at him? Are you ready to talk about it?"

She nodded but was quiet for awhile. Then she opened her mouth and the story came tumbling out. Finn couldn't believe what she told him. She said it all in a rapid-fire blast of words that Finn had to really concentrate on to understand. When she finished, she took a deep breath and looked at Finn, probably to see how he would react to the news.

Finn felt like she had dropped lead weights on his chest. Quinn and Puck, _again_? But he decided to focus on helping Rachel. He would try to be a friend instead of focusing on his own feelings. "So are you mad about what he did or that he didn't tell you?"

"Well, both."

"You're right that he was wrong. But I'm not sure if you're right not to forgive him. Didn't you tell me people make mistakes?" She nodded slowly. "And there's a big difference between doing something to hurt someone and doing something wrong to try to _avoid_ hurting someone. I think that first Puck did something wrong _somewhat unintentionally_, and then he _intentionally_ hid it to avoid hurting you."

"Wow Finn, that was really insightful!" Yeah, Finn had even surprised himself with that. Rachel continued, "You're a good friend."

"Thanks, Rach, I try," he smiled. He really was trying to be. Really. "I've been doing some thinking about me and Quinn and Puck along those lines. Of course, I haven't decided if _I_ can forgive them yet, especially Quinn. Don't know if I could trust her again, you know?"

"You're right, they were wrong in what they did to you, Finn. Quinn was being selfish, but she was probably scared. And I know that Noah was following what Quinn told him to do. Neither of them wanted to hurt you. But you have every right to be cautious."

"Yeah, maybe I should forgive them," Finn said dismissively. "But forgiving someone doesn't mean you have to go back to _dating_ them." He hoped she picked up on what he was getting at here.

"That's true," Rachel replied.

"I still think it's better that we're all just friends," Finn emphasized. "Because first they were together last year, then they kissed this year. It just proves the point I made at the dance, Rach. There's something between them. They make sense together. And I still think you and me make sense together." Finn paused for Rachel's reaction. She didn't smile like he'd hoped, but she did look thoughtful. He continued, "But for now, maybe we all make sense as friends—who should carefully try to avoid hurting each other. Build up trust and stuff."

"Finn, you've made some excellent points. I need to really think hard about them. Thank you, I think I am calm enough to continue my drive home."

Finn nodded and figured it was time to head out. He returned to his car. Rachel waved goodbye as she drove away. Finn started to think about what could have been if he had only picked Rachel over Quinn sooner. If he had gone for Rachel in the beginning, when she was so into him (which he might have done if he hadn't thought he'd gotten Quinn preggers), would any of this happened? Would he and Rachel be the perfect couple?

…

On the short drive home, Finn did some thinking. He gripped the steering wheel tightly as he thought about how Puck had hurt Rachel, just like he thought he would. Because Puck couldn't stop himself from going after Quinn. And Quinn obviously had some _thing_ for Puck even now if she was kissing him after the dance—after she had acted like she wanted to get back together with him, not with Puck. How could she tell Finn that she wanted to be together, but then turn around and make-out with Puck? What was wrong with those two? Were they both the kind of people who aren't happy with what they have and need to go after what they can't have? Or maybe Puck and Quinn were like soul-mates or something. Finn huffed loudly in frustration. But maybe that meant that he and Rachel might be soul-mates…

Finn pushed his thoughts of Quinn aside to think about Rachel and what he'd said to her...that they should all work on being friends. He meant it too. He really thought that would be for the best. Of course, if that also meant that Rachel would break up with Puck to just be friends, then…awesome. He couldn't pretend that wouldn't be a bonus.

Puck was obviously just going to hurt her, like he's already proven. And he'd keep hurting her. But Finn wouldn't do that (this time), if she would give him a chance (again). She's the one who made him feel better after what Quinn had done. (Crap, there was Quinn in his head again.) But back to Rachel, she was sweet and nice to him. Even when she argued with him, she did it like they were equals and not that she was the queen of the world and he was the idiot or whatever. The thing is, Finn knew that Rachel really was better than him, but she didn't bring him down the way Quinn did. (Crap. Thought about her again.)

So for a while, Finn argued with himself, wavering between Rachel and Quinn. Even though Rachel said she wanted to just be friends, when Puck and Rachel had a fight, Finn saw one more chance. He had one last hope of showing Rachel that Puck was a rotten friend and a rotten boyfriend while Finn could be a perfect gentleman.

It didn't work.

Of course, he didn't find out that it didn't work until Monday. Over the weekend he went out with the guys, who brought Puck along without telling him. And Puck was all mad at him for suggesting the friend thing to Rachel. Whatever. Puck could be mad at him all he wanted. It was Finn who should be mad, not Puck. That night Puck joined some college band, but got all pissed off when Finn assumed that he'd be hooking up with chicks that weren't Rachel. What? It's what he does. Puck likes to f*ck. He says it all the time. Anyway, Puck got all defensive about it, which was weird because the old Puck would have been bragging about bagging college girls. Finn was just pissed that night of Matt's cousin's party, but the more he thought about it, the more Finn thought that maybe Puck really did care about Rachel. Like a lot. But the concept was kinda hard to take seriously. Because it was Puck.

So it wasn't until later in the week when Finn really found out that he wouldn't have a chance with Rachel.

She came up to him at the jock table at lunch on Monday. "Finn, may I have a few moments of your time?" Rachel asked.

"Uh…yeah, sure, Rach." Finn was working on not being embarrassed by his glee associates, and he definitely wanted to talk to Rachel. But whenever he was around the jocks, he always felt a little…uncomfortable about drawing attention to his less-popular friendships. Being unpopular sucked. (Finn hadn't actually thought through the whole process of what would happen if he and Rachel actually dated for longer than a week at the end of school like last year. He vaguely figured that she'd just become more popular with him by her side.)

Finn followed Rachel to an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria. Once they were seated, Rachel began. "I have two things I would like to discuss. First, I want to apologize for my insensitivity to your situation and how the information I gave you regarding Quinn might upset you."

"Oh, that's ok, Rachel. You were upset. I asked you about it. You told me. I'm glad you told me."

"But the news did upset you, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did. It sucked a lot."

"Well, for that, I apologize. And I am sorry that I did not follow up on your feelings the way a good friend should have."

"Apology accepted." Finn smiled at her sincerely and reached out to squeeze her hand. Rachel smiled and squeezed back. Then she pulled her hand away.

"But I have a second issue to discuss."

"Oh, right."

"I wondered if you had any reasons to suggest that we should all be friends, other than the fact that you truly believe that we should all be friends."

Finn tried to process what Rachel said and tried to decide how to respond. Was she hinting that if he wanted to be more than friends, she wanted that too? Or would she be mad if he said he wanted them to be more? Finn decided to go with the safest answer he could think of: "I said that because I truly believe that is the best thing, at least for now." There, he had told the truth and left the door open in case she wanted to walk through.

"Oh, that's what I thought!" Rachel exclaimed happily, and she jumped out of her chair to hug the still-seated Finn.

"Whoa!" he chuckled, and stood up to better return the hug.

"Friends?" she asked, looking up at him beaming her 1,000-kilowatt smile.

"Friends," he agreed, as he gently kissed her on the top of her head. He wasn't sure if she even felt it. But if felt nice to him.

…

On Monday, Finn held out a little hope…but that all went away. Even after Finn suggested that Rachel should just be friends with Puck for now, she forgave him for kissing Quinn and those two got back together. They were back to being all couple-y at school like a day later.

So Finn decided he had more thinking to do. Which sucked. He wasn't used to just _thinking_ all the time.

Maybe he and Rachel weren't the best fit. She talked too much, mostly about herself, and she could be really pushy. But she was…Rachel. She was so special and amazing and talented and beautiful. Rachel always blew him away. Always. It was hard not to think about her or to want her in his life.

But he had to settle for just friends. She made that very clear. Multiple times. And somehow, Quinn found her way back into his heart.

Maybe she never completely left.

Crap.

There were lots of ways that Quinn was different from Rachel…and not good ways. But Quinn seemed like she was changing a little, after having the baby. She was a little sweeter, a little more considerate. And she did sing him that song in glee, even though she said it was a song suggestion for their future performances, he knew what it really was. It seemed like Quinn still liked him, and maybe, just maybe he still liked her too.

When he really knew he liked her for sure, it was too late.

But how was he to know she'd start dating the singer in the band Puck joined? That guy was in college! He was old! Way too old for Quinn! Sure, it was kinda cool that Puck asked Finn to audition for the band to fill-in for their drummer for a gig. But Finn had no idea that he'd have to suffer through Quinn flirting with some old dude. If he'd known that, he wasn't sure if he still would have auditioned.

Actually, he probably would have. Because now he knew. Now he knew he was supposed to save Quinn from dating this punk.

Here's how it happened…

On Thursday, Finn was surprised to see that Rachel and Quinn came to their band practice. He was even more surprised that Rachel asked the lead singer (Josh or whatever) if she and Quinn could do a guest song at their gig on Saturday.

Josh didn't seem to go for it.

"We sing competitively, and we're quite good," Rachel stated.

"They really are. Isn't that right, Finn?" asked Puck (with a surprising amount of enthusiasm in Finn's opinion).

"Yep, they're terrific singers," Finn agreed simply. They were. He didn't care one way or the other. He was just filling-in on drums.

"I took the liberty of copying some music. Quinn and I will perform this song for you, as you play, and you can decide if you'd like to add it to the set list this weekend." Rachel passed out the music to 'Don't Speak.'

Quinn gave Josh a sultry look, "Please? Just let us put on a little show for you." Finn clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on the drumsticks. When did this happen? Quinn and the dude from Puck's band? He was like, old.

"When you put it like that, what choice do I have?" Josh shrugged and grinned. Quinn kissed his cheek and Josh's smile widened. Finn frowned. What the hell?

During the performance, Quinn sang to Finn. And she was beautiful. And sexy. And sad. He really felt like she was trying to tell him something. That she wanted him back maybe? His heart raced. In that moment, Finn knew that he wanted Quinn back too.

But then Quinn moved away from Finn to stand in front of Josh, pressing her finger to his lips. Rachel performed the same move on Puck. Finn was not pleased. What did this mean? Who did she like?

Still, at the end of the song, one thing was clear: they were in the presence of smokin' hotness. All the guys traded looks that said the same thing, 'Dude! That was hot!'—but they all kept their cool and just nodded.

"Well, what did you think?" Quinn asked Josh. Josh brought his hand to his chin, stroking his scruff and making a show of pondering his decision. Totally douchey, thought Finn. Rachel and Quinn both huffed and stomped their feet, glaring with their hands on their hips, causing all of the guys to burst out laughing. Except for Finn. He didn't like any of this. Not one bit.

"You're in for Saturday," proclaimed Josh. Quinn squealed and threw her arms around his neck. Rachel had a similar reaction with Puck. Finn felt distinctly left out and exchanged a grimace with Eddie, the bass player.

Puck started bragging, "You should hear Rach sing something with a wider range. This was nothin'." Puck and Rachel beamed at each other. Finn kinda thought it was sweet, even though it made his stomach turn a little. But his mind was too busy racing as he thought about Quinn.

"Well, it's just this once—we're not becoming a chick band, got it?" said Josh.

Finn searched his mind for something he could say to take Quinn's attention away from Josh. "So, Quinn, I was just thinkin'…You never told me what you and Puck bought Dizzy for Christmas this year. I remember you mentioned that you were going to go shopping together."

Quinn blushed. "Yes, Finn," she answered. "That was weeks ago, but thanks for asking. Puck and I bought her a teddy bear and a darling little dress."

"Wait, you know their daughter too?" Josh asked Finn.

"Yeah, of course. Quinn called their baby Dizzy because _I_ wanted to name her Drizzle… Not that I had any reason to name _their_ baby," Finn said pointedly. He knew that if Josh knew about the baby, but thought that Puck was over 21, he couldn't possibly know Quinn's real age. Yeah, sometimes Finn was a quick thinker. But nobody ever gave him credit. So he said just enough. It wouldn't blow Puck's cover, but it also told Puck and Quinn that he hadn't forgotten what they did to him and how it would always be a part of their lives. How could he ever forget?

Josh paused before he responded, "And you all probably went to high school together, huh?"

They all just nodded.

"What, do they grow musicians on trees at McKinley?" Josh asked incredulously.

"Hardly," scoffed Rachel. "You're looking at four of the star members of the McKinley High Glee Club. I mean, former members, of course."

Finn chuckled at Rachel's poor cover for their ages.

"Right," said Josh. "_Four_ of you?"

"Finn sings too," said Quinn quietly. Finn nodded, but Quinn didn't look at him. Seriously, what was up? She was all flirty one minute with him, and then she was all about this Josh dude.

The rest of practice was uncomfortable and Finn could tell that Josh was a total douche. "Luckily, we still have Friday to rehearse," Josh told the guys. "Uh, Quinn, Rachel, I think you two are excellent performers. You don't need to rehearse with us on Friday. We'll just be making sure that Finn and Puck can keep up with our songs since they're the new guys."

See? Douche.

So Quinn and Rachel were banned from Friday's practice. That was probably good since they would have extra long glee rehearsals, considering that Sectionals were Saturday. Finn wondered how they'd tell Josh about that. Rachel looked to Puck, who just held up his hand and nodded to say 'I know'.

"Finn and I will be late on Friday, but we'll be here. We have a thing until about 8, but we'll stay and practice as long as it takes, right Finn?"

"Right…Well, we also have that _thing_ really early in the morning too, so…not too late…"

Josh just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, guys. Do whatever you want. Eddie and I will be here."

Quinn stepped toward Josh. "Well, it sounds like I won't see you Friday, but I'm looking forward to seeing you Saturday," she smiled shyly.

"Yeah, me too. Your song will be a great addition to the show."

"Oh!" exclaimed Rachel. "Josh, can you get us some backstage credentials so we can wait in the wings until our cue for the song?"

Finn thought all of this lying about their ages was too much work. He was glad he was only drumming in the band for one night.

Josh waved his hand dismissively. "You don't need anything. Just come in with us and you'll be fine."

"Great! See you then. Bye Eddie!" Rachel flounced to the couch to gather her things so they could leave. Puck had driven Quinn and Rachel in his truck and Finn had driven separately. But after Finn saw Quinn kiss Josh (on the lips!), he asked her if she wanted a ride home with him.

Finn noticed Rachel elbowed Puck and they smirked at each other. Weird. But Finn knew he had to do something. He had to figure out if Quinn meant something when she sang to him. He had to figure out how she felt.

And he had to get her away from that college douchebag.

…

He didn't have a real plan, but things started falling into place on Saturday after Sectionals. Or at least that's what Finn thought at first.

That night at The Tavern, everything went off without a hitch. Finn was just enjoying the view from the drum kit on a real stage in a real bar.

It was after the show when they were all backstage when Quinn laid the smack-down on Josh. Literally smacking him across the side of the face. Well, Finn didn't see the slap, but he heard it. He also heard Quinn say, "I'm not that kind of girl!" so he had a vague idea of the reason for slap. That mother-trucker! Finn felt like he wanted to finish what she started. His stomach was churning and his fists were clenched. Finn was ready to deliver a beat-down, no question.

"Way to lay the smack down, Fabray!" praised Puck.

Finn rushed to Quinn's side. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

Quinn smiled weakly. "Yes, I'm ok. No he didn't hurt me. I think I hurt him."

"Cool," Finn smiled. "That slap was pretty hot."

"Finn!" she shoved him, but it was playfully. "It did feel awfully good to smack somebody," she admitted. "Except for the stinging in my hand." Finn touched her hand gently, and he thought maybe Quinn felt the same thing he felt—sparks—a tingling coursing through his body from the point of their contact. But maybe she couldn't feel anything like that because of her already-stinging hand.

Of course, Josh had to ruin the moment. "Quinn, hey, I'm really sorry," he started. "I _did_ have the wrong idea. I thought you were into me like that. And you're really beautiful; I let myself get carried away…I'm sorry I overstepped my bounds and upset you. We ok?"

Quinn looked at him skeptically, but then she nodded. (WTF?) "Yes, we're ok. Thanks for apologizing. I may have over-reacted…"

Oh no. Finn didn't like where this was going. "Dude, you have to treat a girl with respect," he announced, putting his arm around Quinn's shoulders.

"Finn, I appreciate your protectiveness," she said as she slid out from under his arm. "But Josh and I have gone on a few dates, and I'm interested in seeing where this leads. I'm glad you and I are friends. But I accept his apology, and I'm giving him a chance to make it up to me." She smiled shyly at Josh, who nodded gratefully.

Finn was stunned. What in the hell was happening?

Quinn followed as Josh led her away, guiding her by the small of her back. And then that dirtbag looked over his shoulder at Finn—all smug and shit. What a dick.

Damn, thought Finn. First Rachel with the friends thing, now Quinn? Wait, he'd told Quinn they were just friends. This was his fault. He was an idiot. He probably needed to figure out some stuff. He did want to be friends with Quinn. But seeing her like this, with that Josh jerk, made him feel super jealous. What was wrong with him?

Finn realized that he had figured out his feelings for Quinn too late—after he'd already insisted that they be friends. And here she was moving on, leaving Finn a jealous wreck. He smacked himself in the forehead.

Balls.

He heard Puck laughing at him, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

…

At the next glee rehearsal, Mr. Schue announced that the glee club would be raising money for Regionals by hosting the Valentine's Day Dance. So they were all required to attend.

Quinn raised her hand. "Mr. Schue, what if we already have plans for Valentine's Day that don't involve the school dance?"

Finn looked at Quinn, "What, are you going out with _Josh_ that night?" She just nodded. "He's too old for you," Finn whispered urgently. Quinn ignored him.

"I'm sorry, Quinn," said Mr. Schue. "This is a group activity, and we need everyone to participate. You will need to do your best to reschedule your plans. The dance is on that Saturday. You have any other day to make your Valentine's Day plans."

Quinn nodded resignedly. Finn sat back smugly. Good.

But just blocking one Valentine's Day plan was not enough. He needed to go balls out, full speed ahead all in, and all that.

…

The first thing Finn decided that he was going to have to do more than just cockblock Josh. He needed to win Quinn over. The first attempt was through a song. It was no secret that Finn was Mr. Schue's favorite student. And Finn knew it too. At least he thought he had a special bond with Mr. S, and if he asked him for a favor, he thought the chances were good that he'd get that favor. So when he had talked to Mr. Schue after rehearsal on Thursday and suggested a song that the group could potentially work on for Regionals, he wasn't surprised that Mr. Schue brought it up at glee on Friday.

"Ok, everyone, as you know, we need to add songs to our repertoire for Regionals. Finn suggested a song by Weezer that came out about a year ago called "I Want You To". Most of you probably know it already." Finn saw the smiles and nods of the students. "Finn is right that the song is catchy, it lends itself well to choreography, and there are great opportunities for showing off our harmonizing skills."

Finn was proud of his find and glad that Mr. Schue gave him the credit because this song had a message: from him to Quinn.

After rehearsal, Finn asked Quinn to talk with him. "I asked Mr. Schue if we could do that song because it's like, my message to you." He looked down at her in a way that was slightly shy and flirtatious at the same time. He was a little nervous, but he was trying to be charming too.

"Which part, Finn?" Quinn asked. "Did you mean the part about the relationship ending?"

"What? No! There's a part about relationships ending?" Finn tried to think about the lyrics because that was something he'd missed. All he knew his that he wanted to be with Quinn.

Quinn started to smile and Finn started to give a half-smile back. But then her face changed and she looked upset. "So you're telling me now that I'm dating someone, you're interested in me? Romantically?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so." Finn didn't like where this was going—she did not sound happy.

"You know, I didn't pull this when you tried to have something with Rachel. Or when you had your little fling with Santana!" she said pointedly. "I stood back and let you make your own choices. I have only expressed my interest in rekindling our romantic relationship when you were single and free to make a decision to try again with me. You're putting me in a very terrible position, Finn. No matter what I do, somebody gets hurt."

"I'm sorry, Quinn. I didn't think about it like that. I just, you know, wanted you to know how I feel. Just like the song. So, if you were wondering…the answer is, I want you to…you just have to tell me if you want me too." Finn looked at her sadly, with a little hopefulness.

"I have plans with Josh this weekend. I need time to think about this, Finn," Quinn said, sounding exhausted.

"Yeah, I get it. Think about it, and let me know," he gave a half-smile, and left Quinn alone. He had to get outta there before he made things worse.

…

Finn was surprised when Puck invited him over to his house for a Superbowl party, but he said he was down with it. He had a lot on his mind with the Quinn situation, and he was feeling pretty depressed. He figured that kicking back and watching the Superbowl would be a good enough distraction.

Finn was doubly-surprised when Puck came up to him during half-time and asked if he wanted to go outside and shoot some hoops. He didn't invite the other guys.

"So, you seem kinda down. I was wondering if it was about Quinn. Of course, I'm probably the last person you want to talk to about this…" said Puck, tossing Finn the basketball.

"Yeah, you and my mom are tied for last place," said Finn, making a basket. Because seriously, talking about Quinn with Puck was all kinds of awkward.

"Yeah," Puck chuckled. "But I know Josh, so if you wanna ask me anything, like come up with a strategy, or something, I'll try to help." Puck made a basket from the place where Finn had stood. They had basically started playing HORSE without actually saying anything out loud.

"Ok, I have a question. Why'd you introduce Quinn to Josh?" Finn made another basket.

Puck shrugged. "It was Rachel's idea. She thought Quinn should have someone to date." Puck paused. "She said something about how it would either help Quinn move on from you, if that's what you wanted, or it would help you realize that you actually still have feelings for her. You know Rachel, she came up with some big plan and she used big words to explain it, but that was basically it." Puck made his basket.

"I guess you can tell her it worked," said Finn.

"So, this means you're not gonna keep cockblockin' me with Rachel, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you two are good together. Better than I expected," said Finn sincerely. "Of course, I'll still have to kick your ass if you hurt Rachel because she's a good friend." Puck rolled his eyes and Finn continued, "Seeing you two makes me think about the time when I was like, over the moon for Quinn, the beginning of sophomore year. Before things got confusing and she started getting so bitchy because she was head Cheerio. I want that feeling back again, you know?"

"Dude, that's really gay," said Puck.

Finn smirked as Puck winced at his own words. He drained the basketball—nothin' but net. "Rachel's really getting to you, huh Puck?"

Puck snorted but didn't deny it.

"Yeah, she has a way of doing that," Finn chuckled. Then he continued thoughtfully, "I think she's good for you."

Puck looked at him like he was surprised, but looked away and took a shot at the basket. "Yeah," he said fondly. Then he shoved the ball at Finn, hard. "You mean I'm good for her, Jackass."

"Yeah, yeah," Finn grinned as he made his basket. "Whatever you say."

…

Finn and Quinn shared a moment at the Valentine's Dance that month, but he still hadn't won her over completely. They were paired up for the first shift at the ticket-taking table. But Quinn had Rachel and Puck take over for the other two ticket-takers, Tina and Artie, so that they could have girl talk.

Finn was always surprised whenever he saw Quinn acting friendly with Rachel. It was like something had really changed in the world. It was weird, but it was good.

They still had a few minutes before the doors opened to let in the students, and Quinn started whispering in Rachel's ear, as the boys sat quietly on the two ends of the table, pretending not to listen. "I saw Josh last night. He wanted to have sex. He acted like it should be simple since I wasn't a virgin." Rachel gasped, but Quinn continued speed-talking. "I was like, I need to know a guy's in love with me before I have sex again, you know?" Rachel nodded, still with her ear next to Quinn's lips.

Finn was relieved to overhear this conversation. He made a mental note, _don't bring up sex like it's simple now that she's not a virgin._ Because before this whole Josh thing, he'd been thinking about getting back together with Quinn—and he had totally thought about asking her what's the big deal since she had sex with Puck, shouldn't they have sex too? Second mental note, _proclaim love first_. Finn thought that this was a very helpful shift at the ticket table.

After their shift taking tickets was over, the four of them moved into the gym to "enjoy" the dance. Quinn sat across the table from Finn. She was just staring blankly at the sea of couples, but Finn thought she looked beautiful. As he heard the song _Collide_, he had a vague memory that the song was about two people finally coming together. Maybe it was the perfect time. "Quinn, do you wanna dance?"

Quinn nodded and took his hand.

As the song ended, Finn had to ask her. "So, Quinn, have you thought about what I asked before? Are you still dating Josh?"

"Yes, I have thought about it. And yes, I just went out on a date with Josh last night. He makes me happy, Finn."

Finn slumped at her answer. "Quinn, you're entitled to be happy, even if the idea of you and Josh makes me wanna hurl on your shoes."

"Thank you, Finn. I appreciate that selfless, if tasteless, statement."

"You're welcome."

Quinn was silent for a moment. "If you and I started dating again…what about Rachel?" Quinn fumbled over the words.

"What do you mean? Rachel's with Puck now."

"Exactly. Now. What happens when they break up? How do I know you won't break up with me for her?"

"Aw, Quinn," Finn said, "don't you remember what it was like when we first started dating? At the very beginning?" Finn thought about what he had said to Puck—about being over the moon for Quinn from the start.

"It was magical," she whispered.

"Yeah, it was!" Finn nodded enthusiastically. "Wouldn't it be awesome to get that back?"

Quinn smiled back. "Yes, that would be _awesome_."

Finn's face brightened as a huge smile graced his face. He drew her up in a hug, assuming that was a 'yes'. Quinn hugged him back, then pulled away.

"So how do you feel about an open relationship?" she asked.

"A what?"

…

So Finn got an education on open relationships. Quinn talked to him about the idea at the dance, after the dance, over the weekend.

Finn was not a fan.

But he didn't want to lose Quinn completely. So he went along with it. For awhile.

…

After Finn had a chance to think about it, he was definitely not on board. He remembered what Quinn told Rachel at the Valentine's Day dance—about feeling pressured to have sex with Jerkoff Josh. Nothing good could come of that. It was bugging him all day at school. Finn took the open seat next to Quinn in glee that afternoon. "So, I was thinking. I still don't like the idea really. And he's so much older than you, Quinn. Like does he pressure you, you know?"

"Finn! No!" Then she whispered, "Not that the details of my relationship with Josh are part of your business. Your business is that I am in casual relationships with both of you. Remember when I explained that? But I will tell you that we recently had a conversation about taking it slow."

"Because he knows you're 17?"

"That's not why we're taking it slow."

"So he thinks you're older, like Puck, right?"

"Finn, do you really want to talk about this here, now?"

"I guess not." Finn said. He could see she was getting upset, and that wasn't really the way to win over a girl. Besides, Mr. Schue was walking into the room.

Quinn seemed in a hurry to leave glee rehearsal at the end of the day.

She was clearly avoiding him.

…

Finn sat next to Quinn again in glee on Tuesday, but he didn't bring up Josh this time. Quinn just smiled at him sweetly and scooted her chair closer to him. For some reason, seeing her made his stomach hurt. Or maybe it was because today was Taco Tuesday and he'd gotten double lunches.

But even though he didn't say anything, he couldn't stop thinking about it. His chest _hurt_ to think about Quinn getting pressured to have sex with that guy (even though she denied it). She should be with him, in a nice, safe high school relationship. Maybe they weren't in love with each other, but they had been through a lot together. Josh hardly knows her! And they're only in high school, so it's not like they need to be thinking about marriage or anything crazy. Besides, maybe they could be in love again if he could just have a chance.

Finn decided he couldn't just sit around and let Quinn go back and forth between the two of them "casually". He had to tilt the odds in his favor. And he had an idea of what he could do.

So yeah, he called Josh. And he gave some hints that Josh should stop seeing Quinn.

And yeah, Quinn found out and got pissed.

But he apologized—sincerely, and he explained that he was only trying to help her. So Quinn agreed to give him a chance.

And after the disaster of a party following their tie with Vocal Adrenaline at Regionals, he ran into Rachel at the library during lunch and they had a really good talk.

"Quinn had been so cool when we first started dating, but then she started acting so…bossy. And she looked down on me _all the time_. And then there was everything that happened with the baby…" Finn's voice trailed off. Rachel took his hand and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Then this year it was like she wanted to be friends again, more than friends, really. And I wasn't quite ready, you know?"

Rachel didn't respond; she just nodded and squeezed his hand again. He squeezed back.

"But now, we have this weird arrangement where she's like dating me and that Josh guy. Have you heard of that, an open relationship?"

"Yes, I have, Finn. It's a mature decision for people who aren't ready for exclusive commitments,"

"Yeah, I guess it's mature. Except, the two of us haven't really even gone on a date and she's always with _him_. I'm not really part of the…equation."

"Hmm. Well, you might have to make yourself part of the equation, if that's what you want. An open relationship isn't for everyone. Do you know what you want, Finn?"

"Yeah, I do. I just want to be _wanted_." His heart felt heavy, but he continued when Rachel just looked at him with wide, shining eyes. "So now my problem with this arrangement with Quinn is that I still can't tell if she wants to be with me at all. If she wants to date some other guy, isn't that a bad sign or something?"

"Well, you two are young. It's not as though you are thinking of marriage right now. You should figure out what makes you happy and focus on that. If you can be happy with spending some time with Quinn even though she also spends time with Josh, then I think you should do that. But if the thought of sharing her prevents you from enjoying spending time with her, then you should tell her."

"Thanks, Rach. I'm not really good with words. And it's hard to think this stuff through. But you've been really helpful."

They spent the whole lunch hour together, with Rachel talking the most, but Finn talking more than he really ever had to anyone about girly stuff like feelings.

"It's good that you're thinking about these feelings," Rachel confirmed. "It's very important. Then once you have your feelings figured out, you should talk to Quinn."

"Thanks, Rach. I've missed talking to you. As friends." He smiled genuinely. "You know, there's something I've told Puck but I haven't told you. I thought it would be me and you and Puck and Quinn. But I'm really happy for the two of you. I'm glad you guys are happy together. I just wanted you to know that."

Rachel smiled one of those special smiles. "Thank you, Finn. I appreciate that. I want you to be happy too."

Finn left the library feeling hopeful again.

…

After glee rehearsal, Finn asked Quinn to hang back. He was taking Rachel's advice and making himself part of the equation. He was stepping up. Again. He hoped he would get better results this time.

"I know it's early, but I was wondering if you wanna go to Prom with me…" He tried to sound cool and casual.

Finn took Quinn's hesitation as a sign that she's just not that into him. He opened his mouth to play down his question with an "It's cool," but Quinn beat him to it.

"Thank you for asking, Finn. I just wasn't expecting to think about Prom so soon. Do you mind if I tell you my answer tomorrow?"

"That's cool," Finn responded. He was already preparing to say something like that. He just hated that he knew she was going to ask Josh if he'd go with her. Finn would be her second choice. He felt about six inches tall instead of over six feet, and he didn't know what to do. He booked it out of the music room.

…

Quinn sat next to Finn at lunch on Friday. "Hey," she started. "Does your offer to take me to Prom still stand?"

"Josh didn't want to go?" Finn asked, not looking up from the fries on his tray.

"He and I decided it would make more sense if you and I go to Prom together, and he and I will plan to do things together that don't involve high school activities," Quinn said simply. But then she put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry if I hurt you by not saying 'yes' right away. I'm new to this open relationship thing, and I'm not really sure how to balance it. But I won't keep asking Josh for permission to do things with you, ok? I'll just make my own decisions and do what I want. That's the whole point of this arrangement."

"You're not exactly telling the truth," Finn said bluntly. He wasn't stupid. He knew things. He wasn't blind.

"What?" Quinn blinked.

"You're acting like you didn't want Josh to take you instead. I may not be smart, but I'm not stupid, Quinn."

"I-I'm sorry, Finn. I didn't mean to imply anything. I've honestly been looking forward to the two of us going to Prom together since we first started high school. Even before we started dating, I wanted it to me you and me at Prom. You're right though. I've gotten caught up in things with Josh too, and I did consider that if he wanted to go to Prom, then I'd have to make a decision. But I don't have to make that decision. I choose you to be my date to Prom, if you'll still have me…"

"Quinn, what's going on with us? You say that you and I are dating too, but you're always making plans with Josh and you and I haven't done anything together unless it's related to glee or sports. And now I get the school-related stuff probably because Josh doesn't want to do high school things since he's in _college_. If you're not interested in me anymore, just say it. Please put me out of my misery instead of keeping me around for stuff Josh won't do with you!"

"Finn, I…" Quinn started but she didn't finish.

Obviously, he'd stunned her into silence. "If you want to date me, great. Then _actually date me_. If you just want to be with Josh, then don't pretend we're dating too." He sighed, calming down. "Just think about what you want Quinn, and let me know."

…

So once again, Finn swung and missed with Quinn. He wasn't sure how much rejection he could take. Over the weekend, Finn had tried to meet up with Quinn so he could talk to her about his concerns and she could tell him her feelings. He still felt weird about sharing her with Josh. It wouldn't be so bad if she actually seemed like she wanted to be around him. It seemed like Quinn was avoiding him or the conversation.

They never saw each other that weekend. Finn had sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away.

…

Finn decided Rachel was right about songs being helpful to express emotions. He remembered Kurt had told him a similar thing and it had worked…one of the two times. And certainly the words someone else had written would do a better job than he could have done on his own. So the first thing he did in glee on Monday was ask to perform a song.

"This is called 'Breakeven' by The Script," Finn announced before playing the music. Then he sang his heart out.

When the song ended, Mercedes spoke up. "Ok, I'm confused. So, was that song about Quinn or Rachel?"

Finn's jaw dropped. Rachel started blinking, staring stupidly at Mercedes, then at Finn.

"It's about Quinn, obviously," said Finn, also shocked at the question.

"What?" asked Mercedes. "It's not a dumb question! You're singing about a girl who's found a man who'll put her first and all that. Sounds like Rachel and Puck to me. Quinn's not even dating anyone."

"Yeah she is!" Finn exclaimed. "She's dating a college douchebag from Puck's…" Finn was interrupted by Rachel's squeak and Mr. Schue's disapproval of the word "douchebag".

Finn took a seat, not even bothering to ask Mr. Schue if the song would be good for Nationals. And of course Mr. Schue gave a lecture about using glee club as an excuse to serenade each other.

It was a suck-tastic day.

After rehearsal, Quinn asked Finn to talk to her. "That was a really beautiful and sad song you sang, Finn. I'm not trying to break your heart, you know? I'm trying to figure things out and just trying to keep things from getting too complicated and heavy. Does that make sense?"

"Maybe," said Finn. "But I think what has happened is even more complicated than when two people just date each other."

Quinn nodded. "I see your point. "I don't want to stop seeing Josh, but I do want to date you, and not just have you in my pocket as a Prom date. So do you think you still want to try this open relationship with me?"

Finn sighed and looked at her sadly. "Rachel said I need to decide if I can be happy sharing you with Josh. Right now I'm not happy about it. I'm going to need to think about it, Quinn. Maybe we can go on a date this weekend and see how we feel? Say, Saturday?" Since it was Monday, that gave Finn time to prepare.

Quinn smiled, "Yes, I'd like that."

…

Finn planned out the perfect date for the two of them. And it went awesome. Well, except for when his mom walked in on them making out on the couch. And the part when Quinn cried a little before the kissing action—she actually started crying at the thought of crying! Girls. Oh, and maybe he said something that revealed he had watched Quinn's video on Rachel's myspace page. Yeah, he told her he wasn't trying to sweep her off of her feet. She blushed like she knew that he got that from that _Bulletproof _song she sang. Still, even with all of that, it was like one of the best dates ever.

He did make a tool out of himself singing a duet with Puck for Rachel in glee, but it seemed to go over pretty well with Quinn—even though it was a little awkward.

They totally made-out together in the hotel in Orlando for Regionals. And even though they didn't knock it outta the park (you know, have sex), he had to say that things were looking up.

Then Finn and Quinn had a wonderful Junior Prom. Like perfect. Well, if they would have gone all the way, then it might have been really perfect. But it was close. It was like the magic was back between them. And most of the rest of the school year passed quickly.

Yeah, Finn accidently kept Rachel distracted while it turned out that Puck beat the hell out of Jesse St. James.

But Finn didn't feel too bad about that. The douchebag deserved it.

Out of the blue, Quinn called him. He knew that she had been out watching Josh and Puck play in the band at that stupid bar. Finn could tell Quinn was upset when she asked if he had time to pick her up.

"Can we just do something? Anything together?" she pleaded into the phone.

Finn picked up on her distress. He was taken aback. "Uh, yeah, I'll be right over to pick you up. We can go bowling if you want."

"Sure, Finn, that would be great." Quinn said.

Finn rushed over to meet her and did his best to act like nothing was wrong. He didn't ask her anything about why she was upset. He figured she'd tell him when she was ready. He'd learned that by being friends with Rachel.

At the end of their bowling date Finn asked, "So how'd I do at distracting you, Quinn?"

"You were perfect. Just what I needed." Quinn smiled

But Finn could see that the smile didn't reach her eyes. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he knew that it had to do with Josh. That jerkoff had hurt her. Finn felt his chest tighten. All he wanted to do was protect that beautiful sad-eyed girl. He wanted to do whatever he could to make her feel happy again.

…

On the last day of glee before the performance for the graduating class ahead of them, Mr. Schue pulled out a version of _I'm Yours_ mashed up with _Somewhere Over the Rainbow_.

Finn had to admit it was kinda awesome.

"Wow, guys!" Mr. Schue exclaimed. "That was just fantastic, really! I hope you enjoyed performing that together!"

Quinn smiled genuinely and nodded at Finn. He was happy to see a real smile on her face—one that made her eyes crinkle and light up. Finn smiled as he looked around at his friends. Tina blushed and smiled at Artie. Rachel beamed at Puck and lunged at him, to the laughter of everyone in the room, even Mr. Schue.

Maybe things were going to get better for everyone, Finn thought with a small smile on his face.

…

Two months later, it was summer. Everyone was out of school. Finn and the guys were starting football camp. Quinn would be starting Cheerios camp. And Rachel would be leaving for her camp in New York. Even though Puck was practically whining about it every day, Finn felt a little envious of those two. They really had become like the perfect couple.

Which was so weird.

He wished that he had the same thing with Quinn. He wished he knew where he stood with her, but he was afraid to ask. He knew that she broke things off with Josh. He knew that she was dating him exclusively now. But shouldn't she be less sad by now?

Usually she happy, at least that's how it seemed. But every once in a while she'd have mood swings. She'd hear a song on the radio and get really quiet. Her eyes would look all sad. And sometimes she'd snap at him over nothing—just like she used to back in sophomore year.

Maybe she needed more time. And maybe some things never change.

He was driving her to the movies for a date night when he decided to say something. He turned down the volume on the radio, and Quinn looked at him. "Why'd you do that? I like that song!"

"Quinn we need to talk," Finn said. She looked surprised, but didn't respond, so he went on. "I can tell things haven't been right with you for a while. And I don't want to push you to talk about it until you're ready. But I don't think you realize how it's affecting me."

"How it's affecting _you_? How what's affecting you?" she asked defensively.

"I'm talking about your attitude, Quinn," Finn said as calmly as possible. "Kinda like right now. When you snap at me for no reason."

"My attitude?" she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes," he confirmed. "You know, we never know what's wrong with ourselves, but everyone else can see it right away. Or at least people who know you. I know you, Quinn. I know there's still something wrong."

Quinn softened and her arms fell limply to her sides. "Oh, Finn!" She blinked back tears gathering in her beautiful eyes. "I'm sorry! Truly!"

"Please don't cry, Quinn," he asked as he parked the car.

"I'll work on being better this summer, I promise," Quinn assured him.

He must have looked skeptical because she added, "I want to, Finn. I want to for you."

Finn's heart melted. He got out of the car and opened Quinn's door. She stepped out of the car and he pulled her into his arms. She hugged him tightly. They stayed in each other's arms in the parking lot for a long time, and Finn wondered what the summer would bring.

…

**A.N.** I have a poll open for the sequel to _Junior Year/New Perspectives_. I've already made one decision: that it will start in the summer. But only 47 of you have weighed in on what you want to see in the sequel; although 1 person doesn't want to read a sequel at all :( But if you would read the _Summer in the City_ sequel, let me know what you want by taking my poll in my author profile and/or DM me with your requests. If you read _Junior Year_, you probably know that I do my best to fulfill requests and always reply to signed reviews :) Thanks so much! I love feedback!

I'll still write _Summer in the City_ even if only 46 of you want it because I've already started it (which will hopefully help me update that story more regularly than this one).

**Disclaimer:** One line was inspired by a line from the show _Mad Men._


	11. Jesse's Girl

**Chapter 11. Jesse's Girl**

**A.N.** I wrote the part of Jesse St. James in the completed story _Junior Year_ based on the casting spoilers but before the back 9 episodes. So please know that not everything matches the show. Most notably, Jesse never egged Rachel. (I wasn't a fan of that part anyway!) This chapter gives me a chance to give some history for Jesse and Rachel (from Jesse's point of view), and here I'll preview how Jesse will be a factor in the sequel _Summer in the City_. Belated thank you to **fresch** for also requesting & being so enthusiastic about the Finn chapter (last update). And shouts to **LizzayMartini** and** Maiqu** because I'm beta reading Lizzay's St. Puckleberry Finn and Maiqu's St. Berry fic!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

Rachel Berry was supposed to be Jesse's girl. Maybe he didn't realize it at first, but Jesse St. James knew it now. True, their story had an unusual beginning, but stories worth telling typically do. Theirs was a dramatic tale, and Jesse knew drama. He was going to be on Broadway. He had no doubt. She was going to be on Broadway. That was inevitable.

Would he get the girl?

That remains to be seen.

But in the good stories, the hero gets the girl in the end. Bumps in the road along the journey are expected. Otherwise, it would be a boring story and a boring life.

Jesse St. James did not do boring. He was going to be a star. And he had his leading lady selected.

…

In the beginning, Coach Corcoran was the one who pointed her out and suggested he befriend her. (That's _basically_ what happened.) Vocal Adrenaline took a field trip to watch other Sectionals taking place after their own competition. The group with McKinley, Jane Adams, and the Deaf School didn't seem worth attending, but Corcoran was insistent that they scope them out this year. So that's what they did.

Obviously the Deaf School was no competition. Jane Adams Academy had potential, but there was no way they could keep a group together throughout the competition season—girls got released back into society every day, so there was a high turnover. Besides, they were all 'hairography' and not very professional with their showmanship—or show-womanship(?). New Directions was tiny, only the minimum number of members, so Jesse and the others didn't know why Corco was on the edge of her seat. Then _Don't Rain on My Parade_ started. That's when they heard her…Rachel Berry. Granted, she lacked the emotional depth of Barbra, but she was talented—as he told her when they first met. And Jesse had to admit that he found her very attractive. He always went for beautiful girls with powerful voices and personalities. Why even bother dating someone if you didn't have power-couple-potential? So Jesse was already thinking about her dating potential when Corco made her announcement.

"Jesse, see that girl? That's Rachel Berry. She's the only member who seems to provide any real competition. You'll befriend her, find out about her, find out about their glee club. Then you'll report back to me. Understand?"

"Yes, Coach."

Then the whiny junior Adam spoke up. "Coach Corcoran, is that the _only_ assignment? _Jesse's_ the only one who gets an assignment?" Jesse tried not to roll his eyes. That kid was after his top spot, but it was obvious Jesse was still the favorite.

"Like I said, Adam, she seems to be the only competition in that group. Well, maybe the black girl too... Dedrick, she's your assignment."

"Yes, Coach," said Dedrick dutifully. He was one of the few black guys in Vocal Adrenaline.

That was another thing about Shelby Corcoran—she was blunt to point of being offensive, but usually without her awareness. In this way (and others) she was similar to Jesse. He caught Adam looking on incredulously. Jealous little bastard.

Dedrick elbowed Jesse and leaned over to whisper, "Man, my girl is gonna kill me. Even if this McKinley girl is nowhere near my league, you know, Gina won't care. She's a jealous bitch. She'll take my nuts off. I'm telling you, man, she's _so_ good at _draining_ my nuts—I don't wanna lose 'em."

Jesse smirked at his colorful phrasing and lewd gestures regarding testicles. "Relax, D, I got this. I'll get enough info for the both of us. Just follow your assignment for one day so you have some basic details, then I'll get enough info so that you can confabulate the rest."

"Thanks, J, that's smart. You're the best."

"I know, man."

Dedrick smirked at his reply, and Jesse shrugged back. It didn't bother him that people thought he was cocky or too full of himself. Jesse was brutally honest. It was a quality in which he prided himself. Of course, he would act with the upmost politeness and decorum when the situation required, and he was an excellent actor who could easily play a part. But around the people who knew him, when he could be himself, he was honest to a fault. And in this case, he knew he was smart and was 'the best'. So he answered as such.

Now he had an assignment: get the scoop on Rachel Berry of William McKinley's New Directions. Not only that, Coach said to 'befriend her'. That wasn't something they normally did with their enemies, so this operation seemed special.

He found out just how special it was on Monday when he was called into Coach Corcoran's office.

"Close the door."

He obeyed.

"Have a seat."

He did.

"I've decided to give you a bit more information about your assignment, about Rachel Berry."

"Ok?" He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, expectantly waiting for her to explain.

"It has recently come to my attention that I may be…related to her…"

Jesse's eyes widened, but he knew when to keep his mouth shut.

"So I'm especially interested in her, personally. I want to help you in any way I can to…you know, to find out what she's like. I have her home address for you, so you can start tracking her and figuring out a way to introduce yourself and become her friend." She passed him a slip of paper.

"Thank you for the address. Wow. This news is just…wow." Jesse regretted being so inelegant with words, but his mind was reeling.

"Yes, it is 'wow'. So I appreciate you doing this with upmost discretion. As you must know, this situation is of a highly sensitive nature and must be kept secret. Given our new working relationship, I think you may call me Shelby. But not in front of the other students."

This arrangement pleased Jesse, further cementing his place as the favorite. "Shelby, excuse me for asking, but if you're related to her and you already know where she lives and attends school, why don't you just talk to her yourself to find out what you want to know? I'm not entirely clear on the parameters of my assignment. Am I finding out about her as a person or as a competitor?"

"I've changed my mind," she snapped. "Don't call me Shelby. It doesn't sound right coming from you. You're still the student and I'm still the teacher."

"I'm sorry, Coach," Jesse said, confused by her sudden shift. "But I still don't understand exactly what I should be doing."

"The assignment is the same. Befriend her, Jesse. Find out about her as a person. And if you find out about her as a competitor and the star of New Directions, then that is good too. I have confidence in your abilities to take advantage of your opportunities. But should I give this task to someone else? Adam Jenkins, perhaps?"

Now Jesse knew she was just goading him by mentioning Adam, but he wanted the job anyway. He couldn't imagine grease-ball Adam getting close to the gorgeous songstress Rachel Berry. "No, Coach, that won't be necessary. I accept the assignment."

He extended his hand. She shook it. They had a deal.

…

After school, Jesse drove to Rachel's house and waited. Watched and waited. She seemed to go to school basketball games, but she didn't seem to be popular. She didn't seem to have any real friends. Nobody ever visited. She had glee rehearsals, ballet, various lessons; activities like that. Jesse tried to figure out where he could go to "run into her". But whenever he thought about tailing her, she was always with her dads or an extremely tall guy who must have been the male lead. Jesse wasn't ever close enough to confirm the visual. Still, it was mostly likely the same boy. Jesse recalled how they sang together at their Sectionals and how the energy of Rachel's voice overwhelmed that poor bastard's. And he was quite awkward when contrasted with Rachel's poise.

Finally, Jesse had a chance to follow Rachel when she was alone. She ended up at a music store on the outskirts of Lima—so he was actually closer to Carmel—the trip home wouldn't be too long at all.

He made his move. It was magical, really. She was even more charming up close.

And of course, she was powerless to resist his charms as well. Who could blame her?

…

Once he started spending more time with Rachel, he recognized the resemblance to Shelby—they had very similar mannerisms and flair for the dramatic. But Rachel was kind, not so hardened by whatever Corco was hardened by in life. Rachel was like the best of everything. And she clearly had no idea.

Well, she obviously knew about her talent, but she didn't know how wonderful she was in all of the other ways. It was a little sad, really. Jesse prided himself on being rather self-aware. Fairly early into his spying/courtship of Rachel Berry, he realized he had feelings for her. He acted on his feelings too soon. After their date to The Wiggles concert, he pressured her. She said no. He left.

Jesse St. James did not do rejection.

But immediately and for several days afterward he experienced an unfamiliar unsettled feeling in his stomach. It reminded him of so long ago when he used to feel nervous before performing. Could it be he was feeling regret for pushing her too soon? Yes, he realized that's what it was. Very interesting. He found this insight fascinating.

Of course, she was just very appealing, so it was difficult for him not to want to go farther with her. And he was Jesse St. James. He'd been having sex with his girlfriends for awhile now. That was part of the benefit of agreeing to a relationship. However, he should have realized he needed to behave a bit differently in his relationship with Rachel since it served multiple purposes. The problem was that when he was with her, he'd forget how this all had started because he had an assignment. He suppressed his guilt and steamed forward. He had an assignment to fulfill and he had a girl he truly wanted to keep seeing.

He was relieved that she agreed to meet him—and relieved that she still had the Care Bear she won for him. He was _ecstatic_ when she said she was ready (to have sex!). He lifted her into an enthusiastic hug.

He couldn't have planned that any better—a change of heart immediately? Jesse wasn't going to waste any time, but he wasn't going to push too hard either.

"How about I take you out on a nice dinner, and then we let things unfold naturally?"

Rachel nodded rapidly.

She was so adorable.

…

They entered Breadsticks and stepped to the hostess stand to put in their names for a table. "Two please," Jesse said. The hostess told them they had a table available, so they could follow her to be seated. Then he felt a tugging at his sleeve.

Rachel raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes several times. Then she not-so-subtly jerked her head to the right.

"I see you're trying to communicate with me nonverbally to come with you," Jesse said. "So here I come," he smiled as he turned to follow her. "Please excuse us," he told the hostess.

She gave a cute little huff as she walked toward the exit. She whispered loudly to explain. "I spotted some people I'd rather not see at the moment. I'd prefer it if we choose another restaurant."

"I already suggested Mario's, but you declined that suggestion," Jesse pointed out. He was a little upset that she shot down his idea, especially since there were very few good places to eat in Lima from what he could tell.

"I only declined because that's a special place for me and my dads…and tonight I don't want to think about them…at all." She blushed.

"Understandable, given our plans for the evening," he said with innuendo dripping from his tone. Rachel nodded sheepishly. Jesse stepped closer and pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you don't think of them at all when I'm with you."

"Jesse!" she admonished. Then she blushed at her volume. "Oh no!" she whispered dramatically. "They heard me! They see us! They're on their way over!"

Jesse knew she was a drama queen (an adorable one), but she was right. He turned to see a rather tall boy lumbering toward them, followed by a beautiful black-haired girl wearing a cheerleading uniform—well, she would certainly be beautiful if she didn't have such a sour look on her face.

"Rachel, is that you?" asked the towering boy. Jesse recognized him as the male lead of New Directions.

Rachel flashed Jesse an angry look, then she smiled, "Yes, Finn, hello. This is Jesse, the one I told you about."

A look passed over Finn's face—maybe it was one of recognition, but it was gone before Jesse could decipher it. The girl with him just looked disinterested.

Jesse extended his hand to Finn. "Jesse St. James, nice to meet you. And you are?"

"I'm Finn Hudson. Rachel and I…uh, we're the leads of New Directions."

Jesse chuckled. "It's ok. Rachel told me all about you; everything about the two of you."

"Huh? She has? Everything?"

"Well, I'm sure she hasn't told me _everything_. That would hardly be possible, would it?" Like she didn't mention how incredibly stupid and uncultured you are, Jesse thought.

"Uh, yeah. Not possible," Finn muttered.

Jesse noticed Santana shift her weight and rest one hand on her hip. He was about to take it upon himself to finish the introductions when Rachel did the honors.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for my impolite behavior!" she practically squeaked. "Jesse, this is Santana Lopez."

"Sorry," Finn muttered.

Jesse extended his hand to the cheerleader.

"Pleasure," she said with some distaste.

"Yes, I can tell by your tone," Jesse said politely, but the sarcasm was there.

Santana raised her eyebrow and looked impressed for a moment before the same disinterested look returned. "Whatever," she said.

Rachel, next to him, looked mortified. She's so hilarious, he thought fondly, and very entertaining.

"It was very nice to meet you," Jesse said. "But I'm afraid we must cut this short. We were just leaving."

Rachel squeezed his hand—a silent thank-you, perhaps? In that moment, Jesse had an overwhelming feeling telling him that he wanted to protect this girl.

"Yeah, we're leaving too," Finn said.

"Shall we walk you out?" Jesse asked.

"You haven't paid yet," Santana said, rolling her eyes and nudging Finn.

"Oh, right. Well, have a good evening, you two." Then he looked at Rachel in a way that displeased Jesse. "Don't do anything…I wouldn't do," Finn finished.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Rachel huffed and squeezed Jesse's hand again. He felt the moisture of her sweaty palm. He gave a squeeze then let go of her hand to guide her by the small of her back, leading her through the doors out of the restaurant.

"I'm certain we'll meet again some other time," Jesse told them before he turned his head away, clearly indicating that their interactions were over. Once they were through the doors, he threw his arm over Rachel's shoulder and pulled her close as they walked to his car. "I'm sorry I didn't leave with you immediately. That _was_ rather awkward. We'll have to work on our nonverbal communication, don't you agree?" He smiled down at her.

She released a musical little giggle. "Yes, we should. And thank you for that…for the way you handled them."

"That was easy. You should meet the characters in Vocal Adrenaline. Your Finn and what's-her-name have nothing on them," he joked. He felt like he was on top of the world when that elicited a giggle from Rachel. All he wanted to do was protect her and make her realize her greatness. He looked at her solemnly. "But seriously, I'd do anything for you, Rachel," he said earnestly.

She beamed at him beautifully and turned into his arms. Jesse pushed down the strange feeling in his stomach. He wanted to enjoy this moment…and the moments to come when they got back to her house. He did not want to feel guilty about the unusual circumstances of their relationship.

Of course, when they had their dinner and got back to Rachel's house, Jesse could not wait for her to emerge from her bathroom.

And of course, Rachel announced that she couldn't give herself to him. Because of her teammates. Jesse was fairly certain she really meant because she had feelings for that ridiculous Finn character. How was that even possible?

…

Jesse had the displeasure of reporting his setback to Coach Corcoran, leaving out a few details. She didn't need to know that he'd asked for sex a few times and been turned down, but he did tell her that things weren't going as well with Rachel as he'd hoped. Corco took it surprisingly well. She brushed it off, saying she didn't need any more information from him. She suddenly did a 180 and said she made a mistake—she wasn't supposed to have contact with Rachel and didn't want to know more. She said Jesse should focus on Vocal Adrenaline—no more excused absences from practice while he befriended Rachel and checked out New Directions.

That pissed Jesse off since he had put in all that work for nothing. But he was also relieved. Maybe he could have a real relationship with Rachel, and she'd never have to know about the weird deal he made with Shelby.

…

Unfortunately, that was the beginning of the end of their dating relationship. They tried to date secretly for a while longer, with Jesse pledging his devotion and willingness to wait to win Rachel's trust and affection. But Rachel's glee club gave her an ultimatum to stop dating him, and she called it off. Jesse knew another male lead had her heart—though for the life of him, he could not understand why. And secretly, she had broken his heart when she ended it. Not that he would admit it.

When Vocal Adrenaline won Regionals that year, devastating New Directions, Jesse felt some satisfaction. But then he looked at her face. Her beautiful, sad face.

No.

He did not do rejection. He did not do jealousy. He did not beg for attention and affection.

He would not do this.

So he pushed thoughts of Rachel Berry aside. He was Jesse St. James.

…

It wasn't until Regionals of his second (and final) senior year at Carmel when he actually saw her again (when she saw him too). It had been nearly a year. He was so pleased when she called out to him during the intermission while he was in line at the juice bar.

"Rachel!" Jesse exclaimed. "I thought that was you."

"Hello, Jesse!" Rachel exclaimed with equal enthusiasm. "I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Noah Puckerman." Jesse felt a hint of disappointment at this news and the appearance of the well-muscled boy with a Mohawk stepping out from behind her.

"Oh, that's not the one I'd expected you'd be introducing as your boyfriend," stated Jesse bluntly. Then he shook his head as if to erase his error from the Etch-a-Sketch transcript in his mind. "I'm sorry. I'm still a little buzzed from the performance, I suppose. I mean to say, it's good to meet you, Noah."

"Uh…Thanks. Same here," said Puck as he shook the outstretched hand. "And people call me Puck," he said gruffly.

"Ok?" Jesse looked at him quizzically and gave Rachel an equally questioning look. First a guy named something ridiculous…Finn, was it? Now a guy called Puck?

"Well, we had better get back to our places for the announcement of the awards!" chirped Rachel. "Best of luck to you, Jesse!"

"Same to you, Rach!" Jesse called. He watched her go, watching her dress sway above those beautifully sculpted legs.

Maybe he had made a mistake by letting her go so easily.

Her performance at Regionals only confirmed this idea.

He'd already made his way through the viable candidates in Vocal Adrenaline. None were up to his standards. And she was clearly better than these clowns at McKinley she insisted on dating, although he seemed to be the only one to realize it.

The answer was obvious.

It was time for Jesse St. James to win back Rachel Berry.

…

After the competition (in which Vocal Adrenaline had the misfortune of tying with New Directions), Jesse was surprised when this Puck fellow addressed him, with Rachel nowhere in sight.

"So, when you said I wasn't the one you were expecting, what'd you mean?" Puck asked with his eyes narrowed.

Jesse didn't know why he was bothering to talk to Rachel's new boyfriend, but he did try to conduct himself professionally in all situations. He spoke carefully, "Last year, there seemed to be another member of your choir that she expressed an interest in dating."

"Oh, yeah. You mean Finn," Puck pointed him out to Jesse.

Jesse took his time with his answer. "Yes, I believe he is the one. I hope you don't take offense. It sounds as though you already know about the situation."

"Yeah, I was just making sure. So how long did you date Rachel?"

Jesse smirked to see how threatened this brute of a boy was around him. In spite of that guy's looks and his biceps, he was smart enough to consider Jesse as a threat. And he was. Jesse was a triple threat, for sure. He had the classic charming good looks that weren't so overwhelming that he couldn't play most male leads on Broadway and off. His muscular but slender physique was also the ideal size. Unlike this Puckerman boy who looked like he would end up guarding a door as a bouncer one day. Jesse chuckled to himself. Well, maybe Rachel's new boyfriend wasn't as big as a bouncer, but _Puck_ certainly was not a good match like _Jesse_ was for the sensitive and savvy leading lady Rachel Berry.

"Well?" Puck prompted, breaking Jesse from his thoughts.

Jesse was about to respond when Rachel suddenly made her entrance—as if she didn't want Jesse to answer the question about their relationship. "There you are, Noah," she smiled. "Hello, Jesse. Congratulations on your win. I really enjoyed your performance."

"Congrats to you too, Rachel. You were fantastic as always," beamed Jesse. Puck rolled his eyes.

"So it was nice talkin' to you. I guess we'll see you at Nationals," Puck rudely interrupted, pulling Rachel towards him.

"Yes, it was nice meeting you as well," he lied. "And good to see you again, Rachel."

"Good to see you, Jesse. I look forward to seeing you at Nationals," Rachel smiled.

Jesse watched Puck wrap his arm around Rachel's waist as they walked away. He thought he handled the situation quite well—with politeness and professionalism. But he hoped they killed New Directions at Nationals.

…

And they did. Even though Vocal Adrenaline didn't win first place, they still crushed New Directions. Victory was sweet. But not as sweet as Rachel's body—which he had his first real glimpse of at the pool the day before the results were announced.

Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions were staying at the same hotel in Orlando, and they both ditched one day of the competition after they'd already performed to take advantage of some time to relax. Jesse was sitting poolside in a lounge chair when Rachel emerged from the pool, dripping wet in a tiny bikini. And holy hell, she was hot. Like perfection. He waved her over, and she smiled, returning with her towel and a colorful beach bag. They started with small talk as she toweled off. Then she settled into the chair next to him and began rubbing suntan lotion on her legs. Jesse didn't even try to hide his staring. The smell of coconut and the sight of her dancer's legs as her hands methodically applied the lotion were mesmerizing. Her tanned skin was shining in the sun…taunting him. She looked…delicious. "Do you need any help?" he asked as innocently as he could muster. "I could do your back for you," he offered.

Rachel appeared startled. "Oh, no thank you. But thank you for the offer. I'll just sit upright in the chair. I'll wait to turn over when my boyfriend is available to help me with my back."

"Of course," replied Jesse smoothly. Not only did he get to gaze at her bikini-clad body, he even got to talk to her by the pool. He told her about his plans for New York after graduation. Jesse told her that he could help her get there too—by following in his footsteps and getting into all of the right programs. Her eyes lit up with interest. Jesse knew that was his way in—their mutual love for the performing arts would bring them together.

"Actually, I have been accepted—" she started.

Suddenly, there was a commotion as Rachel's boyfriend shoved some of his Vocal Adrenaline peers.

"Excuse me. What the fuck did you just say?" he bellowed.

Rachel jumped at the sound and turned to look at Puck. "What's going on, Noah?"

"I'm asking these guys what they just said. Do you care to repeat it?" he asked through clenched teeth, glaring at two guys Jesse recognized as Bradford and Geoffrey.

"No. Not really," said Bradford, who was known for his triple-flip and for his cockiness.

Jesse stood up and walked toward his teammates. "Really, what's going on?"

"These guys have some things to apologize for, don't you?" Puck asked with a menacing glare. "You said some things about my girlfriend and your friend Jesse here that you need to take back."

Jesse and Rachel both narrowed their eyes at the boys in question.

"Yeah, alright, fine. I'm sorry," said Bradford.

"I'm sorry," said Geoffrey.

They should work on their acting, Jesse thought. They didn't sound very convincing with their apologies.

Rachel stood up. "I think I've had enough of the pool." Puck nodded.

Jesse apologized to Rachel and Puck on behalf of his teammates, but the couple left the pool anyway. So he took the opportunity to question Brad and Geoff about what exactly Puck heard them say.

He was not pleased.

…

He wasn't entirely surprised to see Puck outside of his house a month later. He figured it was just a matter of time before the boyfriend came to defend the club and Rachel's honor—or whatever his pea-brain had come up with after overhearing some remarks about what Shelby had arranged. But he had also recently placed a phone call to Rachel, so that may have prompted his appearance.

"Hey, Jesse, over here," Puck called from his truck.

No sense in avoiding it really. Jesse sauntered over to meet him on the sidewalk. Puck looked a bit surprised that he approached so willingly. "Puck, right?" Jesse asked. "What can I do for you? Are you upset that I called Rachel? I just wanted to tell her that I'm moving to New York after graduation."

"I want to talk about what I overheard at Nationals. About how Shelby made you try to get with Rachel."

"Coach Corcoran didn't really make me do anything. But your Coach Sylvester got to her, and she _suggested_ that I could be of help. And I wanted to be a team player, you know? But then, I started to really like Rachel. She's one in a million. Really talented." Most of what he said was the truth.

"And does Rachel know all this? About the spying?" Puck asked.

"I doubt it. But I'd be happy to explain the situation, if that's what you came here to ask. What _did_ you come here for, specifically?"

"Specifically? To ask you that and to tell you that Rachel is with me, so give it up. I don't trust you, so I want you to stop calling her, stop messing with her head."

"I think Rachel can make her own decisions. I'm pretty sure she'll want to talk to me about certain music-related topics. Especially now that I'll be heading off to the Great White Way. Face it, you're not Broadway material," said Jesse.

"No shit, Sherlock. I'm not planning on being a gay Broadway star." Puck said sourly.

"Exactly. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just stating facts."

"I guess being a jerk just comes naturally," Puck sneered.

"I suppose you're right," Jesse replied thoughtfully. "Look, this is my senior year," he started.

Puck interrupted. "I thought you were a senior last year."

"Yeah, it's the Carmel High five-year plan for Vocal Adrenaline. Anyway, this is my last month here, then I'll be going off to New York to make it big. You can have Rachel for one more year. But then she'll be following me to Broadway, and you'll be left in Ohio."

"I'll go to New York with her—there's more than Broadway in New York."

"Of course there is," Jesse said condescendingly. "But something will happen. You'll get that football scholarship to OSU. No wait, that's ridiculous." Jesse ignored Puck's scowl. "Still, even if you do follow Rachel to New York, you'll be powerless to stop the inevitable. I'll be the hot male lead. She'll be the stunning young starlet. Everyone will root for us to become a couple. We'll share an onstage kiss. You'll get jealous. Question her. She'll get upset. And she'll come to me for comfort. And then, I'll be the one she chooses." Jesse was very satisfied with his tale of the future.

He didn't even register Puck's fist flying at his face until it was too late. Jesse heard the sound of flesh and bone, and absently thought that the movie sound effects were fairly accurate. Then the pain flared across his face and his thoughts were muddled for a few seconds.

"You stay the fuck away from Rachel," Puck growled.

"Did you have to go for the face?" Jesse yelped, nursing his jaw. His head was beginning to clear even though his whole head felt like it was pulsing with pain. He thought he could feel the swelling start already.

"Yep. You fucking deserve it."

"Well, let's call a truce. I'll leave Rachel alone for now. I'm confident I'll catch up with her in New York. And after what I saw of her in Florida, I can tell that ass is worth the wait." Ok, maybe Jesse's head wasn't completely clear because after the words left his mouth, he knew he shouldn't have said them.

Puck punched him again, twice in the gut, then another blow that glanced off Jesse's ribs as he went down. "You asked for it, but I spared your face, fuckwad." Jesse crumpled in pain on the sidewalk. Puck continued. "And if you don't stay away from Rachel, I won't be so generous."

…

Jaw throbbing, wincing as every breath accentuated the stabbing pain in his ribs, Jesse slowly made his way across the street and into his house. His parents were away in Bali again, so he didn't have to explain what had happened. But he didn't have anyone to nurse his wounds.

His phone alerted him to an incoming text. In spite of his pain, Jesse smiled. It was from Rachel, warning him that Noah may be on his way.

"Too late," he texted her.

"He found me," he sent in his second text.

He smiled again when his phone rang.

"What happened?" Rachel asked Jesse on the phone. He could hear the concern in her voice.

He told her about the beating he received—he wasn't too proud to admit that he was badly bruised and did not put up a fight. He actually thought that honesty might work in his favor. He also admitted to the reason why Puck had delivered this beating, and explained a bit of his side of the story. He promised to tell her more, if she was still willing to talk to him, after he healed.

Rachel agreed.

When they ended the call, Jesse was elated. It was an odd mixture of emotions and physical sensations he was experiencing simultaneously. But truthfully it couldn't have gone any better if he'd planned it. He did have a swollen jaw and bruised ribs out of the deal, but otherwise, the outcome was pretty good. Puck may have won the battle, but he was definitely going to win the war, Jesse decided.

He prepared some ice packs. He was starting to feel better already.

…

By early June, Jesse was finished with Carmel, Ohio and the dullness of the Midwest. He was moving on to bigger and better things. He was moving to New York, the heart of the city. He'd been accepted into the Tisch School at NYU. Everything he'd ever wanted was closer than a less-confident person would have dreamed possible. But Jesse St. James was confident in his talent and his drive. He would succeed.

He also knew that Rachel Berry would be in the city soon too. Not permanently, but she was coming for two different camps in June and July. Jesse was so close to his dreams, he could taste them. He could taste _her_. He imagined she'd taste like coconut oil.

He could have it all, he reasoned. Rachel Berry was too good for the likes of "Finn Something" and "I Wanna Be Called Puck". She was too full of grace and beauty, combined with talent and drive resembling his own. She could also be socially awkward, Jesse admitted to himself. But he also admitted that he found every aspect of her utterly charming. Clearly, the two of them were destined for each other.

He would find her when she arrived in New York. They would connect. Granted, their relationship would have to be maintained long distance while she finished her senior year in Nowheresville, Ohio. Perhaps just a close friendship would be established during that year…leaving Jesse free to date without guilt…and keeping his word to Puckerman. Jesse winced at the memory of his last encounter with Rachel's current boyfriend. But he wouldn't be her boyfriend forever.

Sure, there would be twists and turns in the road (for dramatic effect, of course), but ultimately Rachel would realize what he already knew. They were meant for each other. They belonged together.

Jesse felt certain.

It would make a great story.

…

**A.N.** One chapter to go for this story…it will be from Puck and Rachel. And then look for the sequel _Summer in the City_. Have I worked up your interest for it yet? I hope so! Thanks so much!

**Disclaimer:** One line was inspired by the show _My Boys_.


	12. In Their Eyes

**A.N.** Finally the point of view of both Puck and Rachel from scenes not included in _Junior Year_, leading into the sequel, _Summer in the City_. The writing style combines what I've been doing in this story, but is more similar to _Junior Year_ in which perspectives change seamlessly. To warn you, there is one light mature scene included. Thanks goes to all of you readers who put up with my crazy takes on the other characters and the long wait to get to the end!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Glee or anything familiar.

…

With school out for the summer, Rachel had a few weeks in June to prepare to leave for the two summer camps for performing arts in New York City. In addition to making lists for what she would need for her trip, she needed to spend as much time as possible with her boyfriend.

_Boyfriend_.

Sometimes Rachel still found it hard to believe that Noah Puckerman was her boyfriend and that they had been in some sort of relationship—from friends with benefits to this—since the beginning of junior year. And here they were at the summer before their senior year, stronger than ever. Still, she worried a little about what would happen while she was away. But she ignored the nagging fears that her notorious "bad boy boyfriend "would not be able to remain faithful. She trusted him, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings by even mentioning her silly doubts about leaving for camp. There was no way her dads would let her miss the opportunities the camps afforded. And she would regret not going too if she skipped them just because she had misplaced fears about the strength of her relationship with Noah. Surely it would not be an "out of sight out of mind" situation, right? She decided she'd help prevent this remote possibility by texting him as often as she possibly could—pictures included.

She blushed when she thought about the subject matter of some of the pictures she was prepared to send to him. She had grown bolder over this past year, but she still felt the appropriate level of shame for her debauchery. Just not enough shame to actually stop.

Rachel glanced at the time on her laptop before she went back to typing out her itemized packing lists. She was expecting Noah to arrive any minute so they could have dinner and movie night at her house. Ordering takeout and watching dvds meant neither had to waste much time or money on the date—as they were both saving up for New York, and all they really wanted was an excuse to spend time together…preferably with some of that time spent in a bedroom.

Wow, she really had been quite corrupted. But having such a perfect boyfriend made it impossible to stay innocent, she reasoned.

It was not long before her perfect man arrived, takeout dinner in hand.

"Hey, baby," he greeted with a half-smile. "Your dads said I could come up to get you, but that we shouldn't eat in your room." Puck shook the bag from Mario's as he rolled his eyes.

"That sounds like them," Rachel smiled as she rose from her chair. She smoothed out the skirt of the halter dress she was wearing for their night in. It was summery, a little sexy, and she knew Noah always liked seeing her in skirts and dresses—especially when they were alone. "Thanks for being the perfect boyfriend, Noah," she said demurely as she kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I don't know about perfect, but I'm not gonna fuck with your dads during my last chances to see you before you leave. I don't want them to change their minds about letting me stay with you in your hotel during your break between the two camps."

Rachel grabbed the back of his shirt as he was heading out of her bedroom. "About that…" He looked at her over his shoulder with his eyebrow raised. "I haven't exactly told them that you'll be visiting…"

Puck chuckled. "I should have known they wouldn't be so cool with the idea of us spending a week together in New York before your Broadway camp starts." He turned around to face her. "But you're not backing out on this are you?" he asked mischievously.

"Absolutely not!" she exclaimed—a little too loudly. Her daddy called up the stairs, "Is everything alright up there, honey?"

Rachel flushed; she had no one to blame but herself for that. "Yes, Daddy, everything is just fine. We'll be right down!" Then she whispered, "So yes, we're sticking to the plan. Just don't mention it to Dad and Daddy, and everything really will be just fine."

"Got it, B," Puck saluted her then did an about-face and headed down the stairs.

Rachel rolled her eyes, but practically skipped downstairs behind him. She slowed when she saw her fathers waiting at the landing, eyeing her and her boyfriend like he was some kind of hooligan. "Rachel, why don't we go to the kitchen to prepare the food on proper plates, while Noah, you can go set up the movie and the tv trays in the family room."

"Yes, sir," Puck said, maintaining his best behavior. Stay cool, Puck, he told himself.

"Yes, Daddy," Rachel answered, even though she wanted to protest the command. She followed her fathers into the kitchen.

Puck decided to do his best to overhear the conversation.

"Rachel, we just want to make sure that the shout we heard from you was not something of concern."

"Of course it wasn't, Daddy. Everything is fine, just like I said. We were on our way downstairs, and Noah made a joke. I responded a bit too loudly, but that's all there is to it. Do I appear to have been harmed?" she challenged. Rachel was a little flustered, and her dads had gotten overprotective of her, even though they agreed that Noah did truly care for her.

"We worry about you, sweetie," Her dad told her. "Of the boyfriends you've had, you shouldn't be surprised that we thought of him as the least likely to be long-term. That Finn boy certainly wasn't the best choice for you, but that Jesse St. James seemed…more fitting…"

"Dad, you don't really know as much as about it as you may think. Besides, Jesse could never know what it means to be a Jew," she said in hopes of getting her dad on her side. "Or of really being discriminated against in any way," she added for good measure. "He was very popular at his school, unlike me…" she trailed off briefly before regaining her confidence. "Jesse and I were nowhere near the match Noah and I are. And if you can't see that for yourselves, then you'll just have to trust me." She ended with a defiant stare, hoping her dads would get the point and back down.

They did. At least they dropped the subject. Rachel wasn't sure if they really understood or believed her.

"Ok, sweetheart, we trust you," said her dad, somewhat patronizingly. "Marshall, why don't we go out for dinner and leave these two to have their meal in peace?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Aaron."

"Daddy, please, we're just eating dinner and watching movies. You can always just get a quick bite and then rush back here before we've had a chance to get through all of this," Rachel gestured to the plates of food from Mario's for emphasis .

"Marshall, I'm sure we can pop into the café for a sandwich and be back before they finish their baked ziti."

Rachel nodded encouragingly. And with only a little more prodding, her dads left them alone.

"I'm so sorry about that," she told Noah.

He shrugged, but didn't respond. He'd heard enough of the conversation to start thinking about that fuckwad Jesse. Puck knew Jesse thought he was "meant to be with Rachel", and apparently so did her dads. Sure, Puck and the Misters Berry didn't get off on the right foot after that dinner when they found out he was the dirty bastard who'd knocked up Quinn. But then he thought they both actually started to like him. Guess he was wrong. He hated that he was already in a bad mood when all he wanted to do was be with Rachel before she left. Maybe the food would help. He was starving.

Rachel didn't think much of Noah's lack of response. She knew he was hungry from working all day and he had no problem inhaling his food in silence—there were many occasions when Rachel would have one-sided conversations during meals with him. Today they had decided to do a mini-marathon of movies that combined elements they thought they could both enjoy. There were surprisingly few options to choose from between their personal collections. Tonight's first dvd combined sports and romance in _Jerry Maguire _from Deb Puckerman's small assortment of movies. The second movie for after dinner came from Rachel's dads. _The Whole Nine Yards _had elements Noah liked—including Bruce Willis who Rachel knew was a BAMF, whatever that meant. Her dads had the movie for Matthew Perry of _Friends_ fame, and Rachel liked the romantic elements along with comedy and action. It was win-win, even if they didn't actually plan on watching it—that one was scheduled for after dinner in Rachel's bedroom—which she hoped her fathers wouldn't interrupt. They settled in to watch on the couch with their Italian takeout.

As expected, Rachel's dads returned just before she and Noah finished their dinner and the first movie. They seemed pleasantly surprised to see the two of them sitting upright, watching their movie. Rachel felt like her dads were irritating her more than usual. She asked if they could watch their second movie upstairs when _Jerry Maguire_ ended. She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice when she made this request (because she was almost 18 years old!).

"Let's go," she dragged Noah by the hand once permission was begrudgingly granted.

When she closed the door to her bedroom, she was expecting Noah to attack her—in a good way. She was not expecting what she got.

"You're gonna see Jesse while you're in New York, aren't you? That's where he is now," Puck blurted. He couldn't help it. It had been bugging him ever since he overheard the little douche's name.

"I haven't really given it much thought," Rachel answered warily.

"Good. I don't want you thinking about him and getting caught up in his bullshit," he said sourly.

"What's gotten you into this mood? You seem to be upset over nothing when all we've done is have dinner and watch a romantic movie. Not that you probably paid any attention to it whatsoever."

"Whatever."

Rachel was not going to do this. She was not going to waste time fighting. "Let's not dwell on the negative. Let's not think about what's going to happen while we're apart. Let's focus on how to enjoy our time together. You don't have to worry about me because I have no interest in Jesse at all. I only want you, Noah. You should know that. And I don't have to worry about you either, right?" She hated how insecure she sounded when she said it, but she didn't want to assume too much either. And it would be nice to hear him confirm it.

"Yeah, no worries," Puck gave a sharp nod.

That wasn't quite satisfactory to Rachel. She wanted a bit more out of him. "I have a fun idea." She ignored the eye-roll this elicited. "Let's tell each other _why_ we don't have to worry about being apart for those few short weeks this summer. So, tell me, Noah, why are you with me?"

"Well, it helped that you threw yourself at me," he smirked.

"What? I did no such thing!" Rachel started indignantly.

Puck was about to protest to point out her mistake, when he saw the blood drain from Rachel's face. Like she totally turned into a fuckin' ghost in an instant. He felt his lips twist from the smirk into an open-mouthed stare.

Rachel opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally spoke haltingly, "I did, didn't I? I threw myself at you! I practically forced myself on you! You were powerless to resist! I…"

"I wouldn't say powerless," Puck interrupted, smirk back in place.

"I am completely mortified," Rachel sighed loudly, flopping herself onto the bed.

"You're such a drama queen," Puck scoffed. "Seriously, it's not a big deal. You kissed me, I kissed you back. You suggested we be secret friends with benefits. I accepted. End of story," he said simply.

Rachel turned toward him abruptly. "But do you think we would be here now if it weren't for my complete disregard for your personal space and proper social decorum?"

Puck started to laugh, but then he saw her eyes were filling with tears. Shit. He reached out to gather her into his arms, "Rach, calm down. The point is we are together now. Right?" He hoped that was the right thing to say to get her to stop crying.

It wasn't.

Her shoulders shook as she fought the sobs. "But do you think you would have ever been interested in me at all last year if I hadn't just kissed you like that?"

Shit. He tried to hold her tighter. "It might have taken me longer, because honestly I wasn't thinking about girls or relationships at all because of how things ended with Quinn; but yeah, I think I would have gotten my shit together. Ever since we broke up sophomore year, I'd…you know…think about you…"

"Really?" she asked hopefully through her tears.

"Really," he reassured her gently. And that was tough because she was starting to look kinda gross and snotty, but at the same time he just wanted to take away any reasons she had to be sad.

Guess he had layers and shit like that.

"I'm sorry about this outburst," Rachel sniffled. "I must be feeling emotional about leaving you for the summer," she said mournfully. Then she added quickly, "Even though we'll only be apart for a short time, and I _know_ everything will be fine."

"Oh, you _know_, huh?" Puck said playfully, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course! Don't you agree?"

Oh shit, was this a trap? Did he just walk himself into a relationship trap? He knew the answer she wanted though, and he wanted it to be true. "Yeah, I agree. Definitely," he nodded forcefully to emphasize the point. Then, unfortunately, Puck's brain started cranking and he started saying the shit in his head. And once he started… "So it's weird, I can totally picture you in New York. I see you…there's Rachel in Central Park, Rachel in Times Square, Rachel in line at Magnolia Bakery…"

"Magnolia Bakery?" She had been nodding and smiling up until that mention. "Do you think I can keep my figure and eat at Magnolia Bakery?"

"Uh, yeah. One cupcake won't kill you."

"A moment on the lips…" she began the cliché.

"Are you fucking telling me that you wouldn't go to the _World Famous Magnolia Bakery_ while you're in New York?" He didn't know why this was pissing him off, but he was practically yelling at her, which he realized in the middle of his rant.

Rachel looked up at him wide-eyed. She was about to yell back at him, but she took a deep breath instead. This was a time to calm down and realize that he was just as upset as she was that they'd be apart for the summer. "You're right. It won't kill me. But I'll save that trip until you're there so I can split a treat with you." A considerate compromise, Rachel thought with satisfaction.

Puck took a breath too. "That sounds good. So that's the point I was getting to…I can picture you there in New York, fitting in perfectly. I can even see that damn Jesse fucker. I can see you there, I can see Jesse and his shit-eating grin there…but I can't picture me there. At all."

"I'm going to ignore the Jesse comment for the moment," Rachel started. "And I'm going to address the important part—that you cannot picture yourself in New York. Not to disregard your feelings, but you have absolutely no reason to feel that way; although I recognize and appreciate your feelings." Rachel spoke carefully, trying to consider the communication rules she had learned from her therapist.

Puck could tell she was using quack-speak, but he wasn't up for making a rude comment about her therapy. And he kinda wanted to hear where she was going with this.

Rachel placed her hands on the side of his face to turn him toward her. He didn't look her in the eye though. She spoke softly. "Noah, you are an amazing and talented musician. New York is a perfect place for you. Once you come visit me and play with the guys in the band, you'll have that picture in your mind. You'll see how you fit in there. And you'll see how _we_ fit in there."

"Really?" he asked, hoping to sound somewhat skeptical. But truthfully he was so hopeful that she was right.

Rachel heard the hope in his voice and saw it in his amber-green eyes as they flicked up to meet her stare. He couldn't fool her.

"Yes. Really. Just wait, you'll see. I am almost always right, you know," she said in a smug yet playful tone as she put her hands on her hips.

"So does that mean you were right to kiss me first and you shouldn't be so upset about how we got started?" Puck was pleased with himself for finding a way to get back to the original topic and to force her to feel better about it using her own logic.

Rachel pondered that statement. "Well, I suppose since you're prefect for me, then the way we began really was perfect too. Or, more specifically, I realize that being happy doesn't mean everything has to be perfect according to a strict definition."

"Oh, is that right?" asked Puck with bemusement.

"Yes, as I said, I usually am." She looked serious for a moment before breaking out into a sly grin.

Puck decided instead of arguing, he'd just pin her to the bed and kiss her senseless.

He didn't have much longer before she left for the summer. He had to spend that time productively. (Check that shit out: he didn't even make a joke about reproduction. Well, not out loud. He was totally maturing and whatever.)

What was he gonna do without her?

…

Rachel stopped them before they went too far in their make-out session, and luckily they weren't caught even when they were in some semi-compromising positions. Every moment they spent together felt like it always turned bittersweet. Clearly, they were not looking forward to spending time apart. Parting was such sweet sorrow—she supposed she was understanding more about love every day.

…

Rachel's dads decided it would be a fantastic idea to throw a pool party in honor of Rachel (and the other students) before the performing arts camp started. While she was pleased with her fathers, she was also slightly annoyed by their insistence that she "take advantage of every opportunity to cultivate productive friendships". Apparently, others going to the same camp would be "useful peer associates". Her dads had gone shopping for supplies, leaving Rachel at home doing her own preparations. Of course, she invited Noah over and told him the news.

He was definitely more excited about the prospect than she was.

"Dude! You should get your dads to fire up the hot tub!" Puck cajoled her. "It's a waste of a perfectly good hot tub to leave it there empty," he said, sounding personally wounded by the lack of use.

"Number one: do not call me 'dude'," Rachel said crisply. "Number two," she shot him a glare that stopped the joke before the words left Puck's mouth. "We haven't used the hot tub for over a year for several reasons, not the least of which is environmental. Number three: the use of the swimming pool and the good company of friends should be enough to entice the invitees to attend. Why are you so interested in the hot tub, anyway?"

Puck had stopped listening fully as Rachel jabbered on, but he caught the end and played back her last words mentally. This was his Rachel-strategy: half-listen when she starts rambling; notice when she stops; do a brain-rewind to figure out what she said last; and then respond to that. She would then think he'd been listening the whole time. It was genius. So now that it was his turn to respond, he answered, "Baby, just think of the fun we could have in the hot tub after everyone else leaves!"

To his surprise, Rachel wrinkled her nose instead of looking at him all sexified like he wanted. What the fuck? She should be dripping at the thought of getting it on with him in the hot tub.

"You're disgusting," she said.

"What's so disgusting about wanting to do it in hot bubbling water with massaging jets? Seriously."

"I suppose it's not terrible…It's just…I have bad memories and associations with hot tubs…"

"How the hell can that even be possible?"

Rachel sighed. She didn't want to tell this story, but she knew she couldn't stop herself. "The least important bad association comes from Quinn telling Finn that their personal hot tub experiences impregnated her…"

"Huh. Oh yeah. Ok. But that's a pretty weak reason not to like hot tubs," Puck reasoned.

"As I said, that was the _least_ important reason," she said testily.

Puck knew he was in dangerous territory now, but he didn't know what to do to change course. So he just sat quietly and let Rachel continue uninterrupted. But this shit better be good. Who doesn't like hot tubs?

"When I was old enough, I took every type of dance class, as you already know. What I didn't tell you is that I also took gymnastics. Tumbling to start, but I progressed quickly and became highly competitive in the gymnastics circuit. We purchased the hot tub as a nice treat for my sore muscles and feet after all of the dancing and gymnastics…"

"Makes sense," Puck nodded. "Still not getting the problem." Rachel glared at him and Puck cursed himself for not following his original plan of staying quiet.

"Yes, I'm getting to the problem," she said sharply. "You're right. The hot tub was very helpful. And my aversion for it is somewhat irrational… But I hate gymnastics and anything associated with it!" she bit out with surprising force.

Just as Puck was about to ask her what her deal was, she continued more calmly. "You see, I decided my goal was Broadway. My fathers actually agreed with me that focusing on gymnastics wasted my vocal talents, and they allowed me to leave the competitive circuit. But they strongly suggested that I use my gymnastics prowess in a way that would help me form appropriate social networks. And being naïve as I was, I thought that they were right when they suggested that I would be a sure thing for cheerleading in high school… I wanted so badly to be liked…"

Oh shit. Puck was afraid he knew where this was going. He sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for what Rachel would say next. He wasn't sure what it would be, but he figured it would be bad. Freshman year was when…tossing slushies started. Damn, why was he such a dick all the time?

Rachel steeled herself for the rest of her story. "The summer before freshman year, I tried out for the Cheerios. I thought everything was progressing very well. I nailed the dance steps, excelled at all of the gymnastics, and my voice certainly carried as needed to cheer on one's team."

Puck nodded, feeling dazed.

"Coach Sylvester even commented on my perfect form during back-flips on several occasions. I now realize that this made me a target. I tried to make friends with the other girls trying out…but Quinn and Santana put a stop to that. Before the first round of cuts, they cornered me in the locker room. They berated me, said I wasn't pretty enough to be a Cheerio, and that they'd make my life hell if I didn't quit. Of course, I didn't quit. Not at first…" Her lip quivered before she got control of herself and said defensively, "I knew they were threatened by my talent, as I was clearly superior in all aspects of cheerleading."

For a moment, Puck felt a flash of irritation. He hated when she talked like that—like the prissy bitch he used to give a slushie facial. She had that holier-than-thou look on her face that Puck had always taken pleasure in splashing right off of her with icy punishment. Of course, immediately, Puck was plunged into a pit of guilt for his horrible thoughts. He shifted uncomfortably. Then, as Rachel continued talking, Puck sunk even deeper—he was having a memory—something he must have repressed…_Shit_.

"…It wasn't until just before the final cuts when their plan actually worked. We were on the practice field… I was practicing the routine by myself, apart from the other girls, who were all shunning me per request of Quinn and Santana and some of the older girls too. I didn't notice the football team coming on to the field until I was hit…with the slushie… Everyone was laughing, and Coach Sylvester shouted through the bull horn, 'You think that's hard? Try tracking the last surviving Nazis and laying the smack down. That's hard'. This of course made everyone laugh even harder. The syrup was in my eyes, but I still saw… I saw all of the faces. Before I ran off of the field humiliated…I saw you."

"Fuck, Rachel, I'm so sorry," he breathed.

"I've never heard the f-word sound more sincere…or remorseful," she said softly.

"I feel like such a piece of shit for being such a dick to you, Rachel. They just asked me to target one of the girls they wanted to quit. And of course, I did it because I'm an asshole." And he wanted to get into Quinn and Santana's pants, he remembered that part of freshman year well, but thankfully wasn't stupid enough to say it out loud. "I'm not trying to make excuses. It fuckin' hurts to think about it—which is why I try not to I guess."

"Me too," she whispered.

"Shit, how can you even stand to be around me?" Puck got up from her bed. Rachel was sure she could detect in his voice a combination of self-deprecation and attempted levity that belied a sincere question.

"Noah, you've grown so much. You're not the same boy who used to slushie me without a second thought. You apologized, and I forgave you. Yes, it still stings when I think about some of those memories, which is why, like you; I choose not to dwell on them."

"Yeah… Fuck. I'm so fuckin' sorry, Rachel." He looked deeply into eyes before breaking away to stare at the wall.

Not that he was gonna cry or anything gay like that.

"I know. I know you're sorry," she said, comforting him. She coaxed him down on the bed, putting his head in her lap. He automatically wrapped his arms around her. "You don't have to keep apologizing. We've moved past all this. I love you so much."

"Same here, baby. So much," he murmured into her skirt.

She stopped rubbing his shoulder blades. "You know, I remember you said you don't want to say 'I love you' all the time because it loses its meaning, but sometimes a girl needs to hear it. The actual words."

Puck knew this was no time to fuck around. He only just realized how fucked up it was that _she_ was comforting _him _when he was the one who'd hurt her so badly. He raised himself up to look into her eyes, pinning her between his arms. "Rachel, I love you. You know I would do anything for you."

"Prove it," she said, daring him with her eyes and flirty smile.

That was more like it. Puck perked up. A shift from emotional tension to sexual tension is just what they needed. He suddenly felt lighter—and harder. "Now _that I can do_."

And _prove it_ is what he sure as hell did.

…

After proving what he would do for her—which honestly could be considered things he wanted to do even if she hadn't asked and specified and directed him—after that, Puck dropped the hot tub issue.

…

Rachel busied herself with preparations for the pool party over the next few days. Her dads seemed a little too pleased that she had agreed to host it. Sometimes she found their paternal pride endearing. Sometimes she found it patronizing and annoying. She did appreciate that Noah did not mention using the hot tub again, but now she worried that everyone would find it strange that the Berrys had an empty in-ground hot tub steps away from their swimming pool. She would NOT tell the story of why she never used it again. She could easily use the reasoning she had given her fathers at the time: that it was environmentally irresponsible. But she didn't want to risk getting emotional over it at her own farewell party. So she asked her dads if they could fill the hot tub and get it heated in time for the party.

They were thrilled.

Rachel suspected that _they_ had _suspected_ a deeper reason than environmentalism for her sudden distaste for the hot tub, but they didn't press her to reveal why she had a change of heart.

Of course, a certain pool-expert-boyfriend helped the Berrys prepare—even if his expertise was in above-ground pools. While she was adjusting the seating options in the backyard to maximize functionality, Rachel couldn't help but stare admiringly at his perfectly-sculpted body as he cleaned the pool.

"You know," Puck started, "the guys in the band are your friends too. What do you think about inviting them?"

Rachel looked up at him surprised. "Really? You think they like me?"

"Of course they do. They think you're awesome." How could they not, he thought to himself as he gazed at her fine ass in her summer dress.

"Well, I don't know if it's a good idea to invite them…for several reasons…"

"Because they're in college?"

"Yes, that is one reason. It would be difficult to explain our association with them without incriminating ourselves for our illegal entrance into bars for the band gigs."

"Good point."

"In addition, there could be awkwardness. Josh around Quinn and Finn? Not to mention Eddie."

"I get what you're saying about Josh. But why Eddie?"

"He's always wanted me to set him up with one of my friends," Rachel explained. Then she saw an opportunity for a little test... "Then again, now that I think about it, Eddie might really go for Santana…" Rachel waited expectantly for Noah's response.

"Yeah, and she is pretty slutty, so she'd probably be down."

Rachel smiled widely. His response couldn't have pleased her more—he was clearly not bothered at all by the thought of Santana with Eddie. In the back of her mind, she feared that Santana would get her claws into her boyfriend, who would find his ex irresistible in Rachel's absence. But he didn't seem to be affected by the thought of Santana at all. "I suppose that even if Santana was 'down', it would still be awkward to have Eddie there," she said, as if she'd just thought of it. "Matt probably wouldn't be pleased to witness Eddie hitting on his girlfriend."

"Oh yeah…Matt. I always forget about Matt…that they're actually dating."

"I'm sure Matt wouldn't appreciate that. But anyway, I think it's settled that we won't invite Josh, Eddie, and Trey," Rachel announced.

"Yeah, I guess you settled it."

"Clearly, that's the right decision," Rachel answered, which effectively ended the discussion.

…

And so the party went on as scheduled, with all of the glee club members invited, and all those who weren't out of town for the summer confirmed for attendance. Artie and his family were visiting his grandmother. Mercedes was with her family at a dental convention in the Bahamas. Most of the guests had already arrived.

Rachel surveyed the party area and was glad she'd suggested that instead of a banner just for her (since her dad's insisted on a banner congratulating her), that they have banners for all of the glee members who were going to the performing arts camp. So there was a "Congratulations" banner at the entry way, and then several "Bon Voyage" banners: one for Rachel, Tina, Brittany, and Mike.

Rachel smiled at the thought of having so many friends or at least acquaintances going to New York this summer. The smile slid from her face when she saw Santana walking up the driveway with Matt. Of course, Santana looked fantastic in her Cheerios bikini, covered only by a short skirt.

"Hello, Matt, Santana," Rachel greeted politely, "So glad you made it."

"Sure," Santana said. Then to Rachel's surprise, she leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Look, I'll probably be a bitch today, but it's not directed at you or anything. I'm just pissed that Brittany's going to be alone with Mike during your little camp. So, yeah."

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Oh, thank you for letting me know."

Santana just gave a nod as she pulled Matt past Rachel so they could head to the pool. Rachel just shook her head.

The only guests she was still waiting for were Quinn and Finn. And they arrived shortly, looking adorable and happy, which put a wide smile back on Rachel's face. Rachel had originally hoped those two would get back together, then she thought maybe Josh was good for Quinn. She was pleased to see that Finn and Quinn seemed to be in good shape. Finn jogged around to the passenger side of his car to open the door for Quinn, and she smiled like an angel. Rachel couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, but mostly that was because Quinn was so beautiful in all of the traditional senses that it was practically impossible not to feel envious.

"Hi, you two!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Hey, Rach. Congrats again on your camp," Finn said. Then he gave her a quick hug. Rachel giggled, a little flustered. She stepped away from Finn to see Quinn still smiling, so Rachel let out a breath in relief. She had briefly feared a return of the old Quinn.

"Yes, congratulations again, Rachel," Quinn said.

"Thank you both. Let's head to the pool, shall we?"

…

Puck had sorta gotten used to seeing his girl in her bikini around the other guys. At least they were all friends here—no Jesse fuckin' St. James and the Vocal Adrenaline douches around this time. Matt seemed totally into Santana—and she seemed to enjoy having him wrapped around her finger. Finn was falling over himself to please Quinn—which appeared to be working. Mike only had eyes for Brittany. All the guys were accounted for—'cause Kurt and his boyfriend Alex definitely did not count. Rachel was hanging out with Tina since she was a little down that Artie and Mercedes couldn't make the party. Puck figured Tina was more disappointed about Artie missing the party, but he wasn't sure. He decided to be helpful and organize a game of water volleyball. Everyone had fun.

He was awesome.

…

The party went well, Rachel had to say. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and wondered why they hadn't been having pool parties at Rachel's before now. Rachel didn't list the numerous reasons why it hadn't happened in the past. She just smiled and agreed that after she returned from New York, she'd try to throw another party before they returned to school.

…

After everyone else left, Puck started to help clean up. Damn, he was gonna try to be a good boyfriend if it killed him. Rachel deserved it.

She deserved more.

Rachel realized that she had asked all of the others to leave through the back gate, to avoid dripping wet bodies traipsing through the house. But now she recognized a beneficial side effect—her dads didn't know that all the other guests had left. They were inside watching a movie—"supervising without intruding" they had called it. She decided not to turn off the music or start on clean up quite yet. Instead, she eyed the hot tub. She walked purposefully toward Noah, who was illuminated by the moonlight and the pool lights in a breathtaking display of muscles and perfect proportions. "I think I need to cement my new good memories of the hot tub. Care to join me?" Rather than waiting for an answer, Rachel flipped her hair in what she hoped was a seductive display and slipped into the hot tub.

Fuck yeah. Puck wasted no time. He was hard as hell by the time he joined his sneaky, sexy girlfriend.

Rachel couldn't suppress her smile at the sight of him. And why should she? The worst that could happen was that her parents would catch them in a compromising position, but they weren't around now. And Rachel planned to listen carefully for signs that the movie was ending and her dads were coming out to check on the party.

The heat, the bubbles, the wonderful boy there with her…after a few moments of his perfect lips kissing her in all the right places, Rachel was cured of her irrational avoidance.

She loved hot tubs.

… _Mature Scene_ …

This is fuckin' great, Puck thought. He cupped Rachel's boob and expertly exposed her with a swipe of his thumb. His goal—to leave a mark that would be covered by the bikini after he finished. Plus, he knew what she liked and where to focus his attention. She moaned deliciously and Puck about lost his shit. But fuck his life, he didn't have a condom. What the hell had he been thinking?

Oh yeah, he'd been thinking he'd better join his girl—not stopping to grab the all-important item from his wallet.

"Babe, I don't have protection," he whispered urgently into her ear. He also happened to be grinding his erection with equal urgency.

"We better slow down anyway," Rachel said reluctantly. "My dads will be checking on the party any minute now."

"Well shit, B, what am I supposed to do about _this_?" He gestured to the obvious.

Rachel bit her lip nervously. _That_ was a problem. "Can you make it go away?"

"There's one sure way," he answered suggestively. This shit needed to happen. "Look, I just need to get a condom outta my wallet, then we'll be back in business. That's all I was gonna tell you." He didn't want her backing out. He hopped out of the water and headed toward the lawn chair where he'd left his stuff.

"Won't it still…make a mess? In the water?" Rachel squeaked.

"Minimal," Puck said with knowing casualness.

"Then you better get back here before I start thinking too hard about how you know that," Rachel said with just a trace of exasperation in her voice.

"Done," Puck said as he ran (erection bobbing along the way) to finish what he started. "Let me help you work out that frustration," he said smoothly as he kissed her neck and massaged her thigh. "You'll forget about what's in the past just like I have."

As he said it, he meant forget about the girls in his past, but he had sudden awareness that his words had a deeper meaning. When Rachel kissed him back fiercely, he knew he had to do everything in his power to make this round amazing.

… _End Mature Scene_ …

He did his best covert work that night with the threat of getting caught looming—so maybe things were a bit quicker than usual, but it would have been worseto let the opportunity to pass.

When Puck finally left for the night, he was pleased that Rachel had a strawberry of a bruise on her left boob that was just covered by her bikini top as the only tell-tale sign of their activities.

Rachel was pleased too. She traced his mark over her heart in the mirror before she went to bed.

She slept soundly, knowing the best was yet to come.

…

The day he'd been dreading finally arrived: the day she was leaving.

All the going-away parties were over, now it was just the two of them. He had to go to football camp at 7am that morning, and she had to leave for the airport early, so he stopped by her house on the way to McKinley to tell her goodbye. He pulled up to her street and watched her dad load a suitcase into the trunk of the car. When Puck exited his truck, Rachel spotted him and ran from her front door to meet him. He made it to the driveway before she jumped into his arms.

Puck chuckled at the force she managed to build up as she launched herself off the ground and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Hey, baby," he greeted simply.

"Hey," she said lightly. Only someone with a well-trained ear could detect the hint of sadness in her voice—but Puck was well-trained. She continued, "Thank you so much for coming by to say farewell on your way to football practice."

He shrugged as he slid her back down to the ground. "Where else would I be? I wish I could've driven you to the airport though," he said earnestly.

She smiled up at him, eyes shining with threatening tears. "I know. But it's no big deal. This is just a 'see you later,' right?"

"Right," he nodded firmly.

"So, I'll see you in two weeks?" she asked softly.

"You know it."

This time he picked her up even before she tried to leap into his arms. He kissed her…and kissed her…and maybe groped her a little too hungrily …until one of her dads cleared his throat forcefully.

"We have to get going, you two."

Puck returned his beautiful girlfriend to the ground once again and shrugged at her fathers. "Sorry, sir."

"It's understandable," her dad nodded. "But it's time to go, Rachel."

"See you later, Noah," Rachel said breezily.

"Sure thing, Rach," he replied with matching casualness, complete with an unconcerned shrug of his shoulders.

Puck stood on the sidewalk as Rachel's dads pulled out of the driveway to head for the airport. She was really gone.

The next two weeks were gonna suck.

…

Rachel smiled when she got his text as soon as she and her dads turned the corner out of the neighborhood.

"Miss u" it said.

She replied, "Miss you too! But see you soon! I love you!" Rachel had a proclivity for exclamation points, and there was only so much abbreviation she could tolerate writing in her own messages, but she still found his short messages to be the sweetest things ever.

His next text arrived immediately. "Ilu 2"

Rachel beamed. Yes, the sweetest thing ever. It was perfect.

...

**End. **_**(To Be Continued)**_

**A.N.** Thanks so much, everyone! Check out _Summer in the City_, the sequel to this and _Junior Year_, focusing on Rachel and Puck's summer—part of the time they're separated and part of the time they're together (in New York City). This story was rated T but _SIC_ will be rated M to be safe. After that I might do another continuation to Senior Year or skipping into the future, depending on interest of readers (and me) after _SIC_.

Also, I have a new poll up in my author's profile about preferences for where I post stories. Let me know what you think! Thanks again!

Apologies/shout-out to **LizzayMartini** for baked ziti ;)

**Disclaimer:** Line inspired by the movie _Thumbsucker_. Rachel's use of exclamation points from Lea's twitter habits.


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